Thursday 5 February 2009

Things not to do when about to record Pause for Thought. Number One. Arrive at studio. Visit windowless toilet, pull light switch, light switch comes off in hand!. Yes - that's me - gloriously illuminated, altogether red-handed, and not a clue where to dispose of the evidence. I couldn't even see the hole in the ceiling from which the wretched thing had been pulled. Should I act nonchalant and say nothing? Should I return to the reception desk with a frown and place the offending article down with a 'tut', saying that somebody really ought to fix it? Or could I somehow make it disappear?

We've all been through it, I suppose - finding ourselves 'in a pickle' - for want of a better word. Sometimes others have put us there. But more often than not, the awkward 'fix' is one of our own making, and we just have to deal with it.

I love the stories in the Bible where people have got themselves into a right old mess, and in the end God has to sort it out. There's Moses, who lashes out at a slavedriver, and practically makes things worse for everybody. There's Jonah - who runs away from home only to find himself nearly drowned and then swallowed by a whale. There's Peter - whose big mouth gets him into trouble more than once. And then there's Joshua. Joshua was a great soldier and tactician, leading his troops to victory on more than one occasion. Then one day, when it all went wrong - he went crying to God, wringing his hands and moaning about how awful it was. God cut him off half way through his prayer, told him to get up and put things right. God might have been happy to listen to the praying - but he expected Joshua to put it right. Speak to God when things go wrong - by all means. But don't be surprised if his answer involves you in some work too.

Which comes right back to my embarrassing predicament. What did I do, you might wonder? Well, no miracle came - I can assure you of that. The light pull did not magically fly back to the ceiling and re-insert itself. Nor, I have to say, did I present it to a startled receptionist. Suffice it to say that the coat hook on the back of the loo door now has a new decoration…and next time I'm bringing a torch!