Although not so much an aficionado of detective novels and stories as my wife and daughter I do like certain ones. ‘Foyle’s War’ is one for example that I really do enjoy. There is nothing really daring do about Foyle, he is no maverick figure as so many of them are. He is a man of absolute integrity on which he will not compromise. He also is not afraid of asking awkward question of anybody because nobody is ever above the law.

One of the keys to his detective work and all good detective work is that of observation. In one of the recent Sherlock Holmes films Holmes on one occasion says to Watson ‘you see but you do not observe.’

That is a skill all Christians need to develop and something I am learning and trying to put into practise on a daily basis.

How alert are we to the world and the people around us with whom we have a daily encounter? Do we randomly sit next to someone on the bus or train, or might this be a divine encounter? I am not advocating we muscle in on every occasion to begin a conversation with someone sitting next to us about the deep meaning of life. However I am suggesting we become aware, observant and prepared. (1 Peter 3.15) It might be a smile, a simple word, help with luggage, anything at all. This may not seem like anything earth shattering and yet if we practised this sense of God’s awareness, this observation, being God’s detectives, we would find our own lives richer and the Kingdom of God more fully realized.

Could we learn in each and every situation to look around and say quite literally, ‘what am I doing here for God’s sake?’ 

Having just celebrated the joy of Easter we now anticipate Christ’s ascension and then the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. The work of Jesus is now entrusted to us through the power of the same Spirit.

 

‘Without God we can not, without us God will not.’

This is beautifully encapsulated in this prayer by Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

That means through you and me Jesus now boards’ busses and airplanes, he rides trains and he goes to work at the head of multi-national companies and he cleans toilets!

I have in my head a children’s song that I think comes from a Captain Alan Price collection, ‘Life’s an adventure following Jesus.’

That’s what I am trying to do, to be aware of, to be attentive to and to be ready to act upon the prompting of the Spirit in each and every situation I find myself in.