Monday 15 September 2008

Not so long ago, I spent a couple of weeks in a little sleepy village tucked away in Brittany. It was wonderful - warm stonework, bright flowers, and the scent of strong coffee and fresh bread on the air. Like many such villages, it had its fair share of quirks and oddities, with the odd tumbledown building and cobbled alleyway to make it interesting. In particular, there were four or five old, rusting water pumps dotted around the place.

Well, I don't know about you - but I find there's something about such things that is just crying out to be tested. After all, surely it wouldn't hurt to try out the pump, since no-one was watching. And anyway - those things never work, do they?

On exactly that basis, the pump was tried. The handle was stiff, and there was an awful squeaking and grating as it came up. Imagine my surprise, though, when the downward movement brought a stream of murky, rusty water cascading out and soaking my shoes. Thankfully, no-one was watching - although my shriek of surprise probably set one or two net curtains twitching. The last thing I was expecting was for the pump to actually work. Surely it was just for decoration?

People often feel the same way about faith, or church, or prayer for that matter. Its not really meant to work - its just for decoration, isn't it? Somebody once decided to test Jesus' promise about faith moving mountains. Before he went to bed, he prayed a grudging, unbelieving prayer that the mountain outside his window would disappear overnight. Throwing back the curtains the next morning, he glared at the mountain, sitting just where it had always been, and tutted. "I knew that would happen", he said. I suppose you could say that his prayer was answered, but it hardly seems like the prayer of faith.

You may feel that my water pump episode will cure me of my insistence on trying such things out. Not at all. Life's more fun when you when you take the odd risk here and there. Mind you, next time I'll stand to one side when I press the handle - just in case it's actually working.