The other day I was browsing through my regular rotation of news outlets and came across a story about a cat in Australia that had made three flights between New Zealand and Australia in just 24 hours after being forgotten on a plane. I had a few thoughts whilst reading this article, the first being, ‘Why am I reading this?’ And the second thought was recognising how much access we have to a constant stream of information. Years ago, stories like this would have seldom made headlines, gone are the days of Western communities living in small villages completely shielded from the world ‘out there.’ Now it seems to be a conscious effort to be unaware of the happenings around the world.
But as followers of Jesus, how do we hold this tension? How much awareness is too much awareness about the world in all its seasons?
To answer these questions, perhaps it would be helpful to have two different categories. The things we are aware of and the things we are attuned to. For example, I have a friend who works with vulnerable young people at a youth centre near Brixton and for her, she feels keenly attuned to that need, but I know for myself that is a need I simply need to be aware of. I can remember it in my prayers, raise awareness to others, sign petitions and listen to her talk about it but I know that for now, it is a need to be aware of but not attuned to.
So, for each of us when we are considering the needs of the world it may be easier to sort them into the ones we need to be attuned to and the ones we simply need to be aware of. God by the Holy Spirit, by circumstances in our own lives and by just simply being with us, has perhaps attuned us to specific needs both collectively and individually. What I am attuned to fully is perhaps something someone else just needs to be aware of but as a body of believers, we can perhaps have a hand in addressing many of the needs our world is facing today. Or as Frederick Buechner puts it, ‘The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’
We cannot do everything, but we can do something.
Much of our attuning is about us responding to the call of God but our response and willingness to engage is also our prophetic witness to the world. It invites us to remind the world of God’s desire to be with us. Offering an alternative way to be in the world.
Maddie Naisbitt
