26th February 2022

It’s lovely to see the exuberant and unbridled enthusiasm of the person who takes up a new hobby. They buy all the gear, and subscribe to all the magazines, and attend all the meetings, and infect those around them with excitement and passion, and ‘eat, sleep, and breathe’ the new love of their life. And all the while, those more seasoned in the sport smile sweetly and roll their eyes, and gratify themselves that they have moved from those early and heady days.

There is nothing new under the sun. The same story I suspect plays out in every field of human endeavour, and can even be seen in the church, where new converts bursting with zeal, sit down with those saints who have been tempered with time. And therein lies a temptation to be watched for. “Amen,” say the seasoned ones, “Thank the Lord for new blood, but these newbies think that know everything, and see everything in black and white.”

Old John Newton, with great pastoral wisdom, bids such older saints to be careful with their younger siblings in the Faith, and not just because new Christians are often intense and convinced that there are no shades of grey. But also because of this: older saints can sometimes grow so comfortable with the grey shades, that they forget the blacks and whites and primary colours, and that in the attainment of knowledge, can ‘lose as much in warmth, as they have gained in light’.

DM 26^th February 2022