I had my hair cut today.
It’s not an event that usually takes a long time – 5/10 minutes is usually all that is needed!
Today it took over half an hour.
It took so long because the girl cutting my hair wanted to talk about her dad.
The situation reminded me of the Giles Fraser article I read in Friday’s Church Times.

In true Fraser style he was re-living the depressing experience of General Synod who he states are more interested in ‘satisfying their own activists rather than reaching out to the country as a whole … The reality is that millions of people couldn’t care less what we say or think. They don’t care about covenants or gay vicars: they want the church to speak about life and death, about love and grace, about justice and hope. And because we are not speaking about it, they will go elsewhere.’

This girl, I thought as I walked home, had gone elsewhere. She chose to speak to a complete stranger about the issues of alcohol with her dad and was asking for advice on what she should do.

Now I could spiritualise this by saying that she must have been able to sense I was a Christian, or she felt the glow of the Holy Spirit from me and so was able to share. But I don’t think so! In reality this girl was so desperate to talk to someone, and not knowing where to go to do so, that a balding older guy fitted the bill. As I paid she thanked me for ‘listening to my troubles’. I thanked her for sharing them with me.

If the church was speaking about the things people are really asking the questions about then this young woman would have known where to go. As the church during the weekmaybe we need to look for these questionners and just listen?