I'm thinking about 'outsiders inside' this evening, but having waxed lyrical about the glories of monochrome last night I feel the need to start hard and fast with an extraordinary hit of technicolour ... just for the sake of it!
Black and white has it's place, but hands together for a double-ristretto of the full rainbow too!
I'm welcoming outsiders inside here at King's this week, and it's a real insight into another aspect of our relationship with the children at the orphanage. Everything changes. It's our 2013 Lenten Addresses and whilst I know normality is chugging along in the background, for this short three days there's a completely different experience of life ... different encounters, different priorities, different agendas, different pressures ...
It must be the same in India too when we pitch up to share their lives for a time. Everything changes. Normality chuggs along in the background ... school, homework, prayers, play ... but suddenly there's a world of difference too.
People and places become conjoined in unfamiliar ways so that the children find themselves where they wouldn't normally be doing things they wouldn't normally do ...
It's because of the outsiders inside. I'm only ever there for a week or so, but even our teams wouldn't claim to be insiders after just two months. If they were, then normality would demand back it's rights over change. As it is, even over such a time they keep the novelty of outsiders and all that means for the children who live alongside.
But something magical happens when they leave. These outsiders inside become insiders outside. Different when they're there ... different when they're home.
Thank you to all who are reading through the thoughts of my nights ... for becoming insiders outside in your commitment to make a difference to the 700 we serve.
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