The glass shower
CROSS PURPOSES 108
12th November 2007
The Glass Shower
Hi Guys, Fred here. One last Cross Purposes for 2007. We’ll probably start again toward the end of January.
You’ve heard of rain showers, petal showers, cold showers, even meteor showers. Until last Sunday, I’d never lived through a glass shower!
We were sitting in our kitchen area (in our inner city terrace residence) when we heard the sound of breaking glass, which seemed to go on and on. We rushed outside thinking someone must be throwing glass onto our ‘backyard’. There were bits of glass, large and small, everywhere.
In fact there was broken glass, shattered and slivered, also in the back lane, over our carport, in our gutters, on our front verandah, and out on the front street. We’d experienced a glass shower.
How come? It turns out that there was a bloke squatting on the 20th floor of the 22 storey empty skyscraper beside us, who, high as a kite, started throwing chairs at glass windows…a chunk of 6ml glass broke out, somewhere on the way down it hit concrete, exploded, fell everywhere.
I think the thing which impressed itself on me is the way that one event on floor 20 had, and has, consequences for many others. Most obviously the potential for death or injury for the two street guys camping on the narrow landing between us and the skyscraper. One piece of glass 13cm by 6cm cut straight through one man’s tent, just missing him. A couple of other chunks landed right where the cook would be standing at our BBQ.
The police were called (didn’t come). The council was notified and the buildings owners were involved as well.
Then there were chunks big enough to cut car tyres in the back alley, glass in gutters, slivered glass in our garden beds. One tries desperately to clean up only to find more glass in strange places. Some can’t be cleaned up, in the back lane the bits and pieces are all caught up in the tar. I won’t be walking bare feet out there again. My suspicion is that one way or another those bits and pieces will “come to the surface” as long as this place is lived in.
We have done our best to clean up, even resorting to the vacuum cleaner in places we’d usually walk, but I’d put money on it that someone will one day experience cutting injuries from what we missed.
It’s a bit like sin. From Adam and Eve down to us. From Hitler through Europe and beyond, down the years. From Robert Mugabe through Zimbabwe to neighboring countries in the lives of refugees all over the world. The effects of the crusades. The impact of the doctrine of Terra Nullius on this land’s original inhabitants. Think Sudan, think Cambodia, think, think, think… From anything that I’ve done flowing through to others. One way or another sin has consequences which often leave others to try clean up the mess – and usually can’t!
A solution. I’ll offer you the two quotes below.
“The world is weary
Of cures that don’t cure,
Blessings that don’t bless,
and solutions that don’t solve.”
(C G Chesterton)
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world…”
(John the Baptist)
A blessed Christmas of forgiveness and restoration be on you!
Jesus is Lord
Fred
12th November 2007
The Glass Shower
Hi Guys, Fred here. One last Cross Purposes for 2007. We’ll probably start again toward the end of January.
You’ve heard of rain showers, petal showers, cold showers, even meteor showers. Until last Sunday, I’d never lived through a glass shower!
We were sitting in our kitchen area (in our inner city terrace residence) when we heard the sound of breaking glass, which seemed to go on and on. We rushed outside thinking someone must be throwing glass onto our ‘backyard’. There were bits of glass, large and small, everywhere.
In fact there was broken glass, shattered and slivered, also in the back lane, over our carport, in our gutters, on our front verandah, and out on the front street. We’d experienced a glass shower.
How come? It turns out that there was a bloke squatting on the 20th floor of the 22 storey empty skyscraper beside us, who, high as a kite, started throwing chairs at glass windows…a chunk of 6ml glass broke out, somewhere on the way down it hit concrete, exploded, fell everywhere.
I think the thing which impressed itself on me is the way that one event on floor 20 had, and has, consequences for many others. Most obviously the potential for death or injury for the two street guys camping on the narrow landing between us and the skyscraper. One piece of glass 13cm by 6cm cut straight through one man’s tent, just missing him. A couple of other chunks landed right where the cook would be standing at our BBQ.
The police were called (didn’t come). The council was notified and the buildings owners were involved as well.
Then there were chunks big enough to cut car tyres in the back alley, glass in gutters, slivered glass in our garden beds. One tries desperately to clean up only to find more glass in strange places. Some can’t be cleaned up, in the back lane the bits and pieces are all caught up in the tar. I won’t be walking bare feet out there again. My suspicion is that one way or another those bits and pieces will “come to the surface” as long as this place is lived in.
We have done our best to clean up, even resorting to the vacuum cleaner in places we’d usually walk, but I’d put money on it that someone will one day experience cutting injuries from what we missed.
It’s a bit like sin. From Adam and Eve down to us. From Hitler through Europe and beyond, down the years. From Robert Mugabe through Zimbabwe to neighboring countries in the lives of refugees all over the world. The effects of the crusades. The impact of the doctrine of Terra Nullius on this land’s original inhabitants. Think Sudan, think Cambodia, think, think, think… From anything that I’ve done flowing through to others. One way or another sin has consequences which often leave others to try clean up the mess – and usually can’t!
A solution. I’ll offer you the two quotes below.
“The world is weary
Of cures that don’t cure,
Blessings that don’t bless,
and solutions that don’t solve.”
(C G Chesterton)
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world…”
(John the Baptist)
A blessed Christmas of forgiveness and restoration be on you!
Jesus is Lord
Fred
posted by PastorFredVeerhuis at 1:05 PM
1 comments
