PREACHER’S NOTE 9 OCTOBER 2022
There’s nothing quite like landing in hospital to get
you to re-evaluate your life. I went for a GP checkup
because I was feeling funny, and an hour later
found myself in a ward in Durbanville Mediclinic
with a drip in my arm. My blood sugar levels were
through the roof. The next few days were spent as a
pincushion, with all sorts of needles being stuck in
me, from blood sugar tests to insulin injections. Two
weeks later, I’m a newly diagnosed diabetic, with a
new blood sugar measuring machine and 22 pages
of dietary rules. All good though – caught in time
(just, apparently), and a plan of action.
I found myself thinking how it is that we can be living
with danger bubbling under the surface, and
we don’t know it or act on it until a serious lifechanging
event. Thinking back though, there were
signs. Signs of sugar lows during exercise, an increasing
need to drink everything in sight, and
blurred vision. Each of these I thought were just silly
things that happen, and I didn’t think they were
signs of something deeper.
I think that organizations are the same. There are
signs that something is wrong, but in the busyness,
and as isolated incidents, everyone ignores them.
And in churches, I think those signs are also there –
the community does fewer things together, they
focus inwards rather than being God’s helping
hands and feet in the world, they are more engaged
in jostling for position and nit-picking small
irritations than living God’s kingdom. In my reflections
since my surprise Mediclinic visit, I’m thinking
we at DMC need to notice where we’re experiencing
symptoms of something deeper, and then deal
with the underlying causes, before a life-changing
event surprises us all.
Blessings, Andrew.