I took a friend through to Bedford Gardens for X-rays this morning. It was the usually long, dragged-out wait. My head was a little grumpy and I’m was probably not as flexible and patient as I would usually be.
Now I love children and I am so at ease with them just being themselves but these two little monsters were exceptionally intrusive: screeching at the top of their lungs, stomping around and around in circles on the tiled floor as hard as they can and tossing magazines in a ‘flying competition’.
Children really should have the space and freedom to be themselves, offering self-expression and a sense of safety. This morning, though, was on another level – causing distress for the patients and angst for the staff.
For all of us to enjoy freedom we all too need to live with boundaries – boundaries that protect the freedom of others : from stopping at red traffic lights to respecting each other’s lives to teaching our children to be careful of others.
The boundaries imposed on the people of Israel were a form of control and manipulation and exclusion; the boundaries offered by Jesus are ones of love and care and generosity and embrace.
As cliched as the adage may be, we are not truly free when others don’t share the same freedom.
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