One Life

I’ve just got back from a mad few weeks in the fields of England...embracing again the joys of camping at New Wine in Somerset and Wellspring in the hills of Cornwall. There is something so typically English in these sorts of holidays – something about drinking tea huddled in a hoodie listening to the pouring rain on my tent will forever remind me of August in England. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love these weeks, not only because they’re away from the boringness of home during the holidays, or because they’re a chance to worship with hundreds and even thousands of other Christians, but mostly because you get to spend real time with people. Forget a quick coffee or an hour’s lunch, you can talk all day and all night. You can even talk through the tents while you’re curled up in your sleeping bag. You can leave behind the nice small talk and have real conversations – which is a relief, really.

Nothing substitutes real conversation. We get so wound up about being connected – and in all our flurry of connections we forget to actually talk to people. And while we don’t need a whole week in a tent to do it, having honest and real conversations with people is something we need to make time for.

I’m fast approaching the end of my internship with Onelife (sob sob) and I’m starting to shift through the whole host of things I’ve learnt - more reflections to come. But if I was to highlight the most significant thing, it’s how important people are. People are what we lead, after all. Not ideas, not plans, not programs. We need to make time for people.

So, fellow leaders, whether you have a week coming up in a tent or not, make the most of the holidays to actually talk to someone. And if you're not on holiday, I feel your pain.