Medway Messenger, 9th July 2004

‘Gills to leave Medway’. There it was on the newsstands, on the front pages. The idea of a better and expanded site at Cuxton isn’t feasible after all, apparently. To meet the club’s dreams and aspirations means looking further afield. Any move won’t be immediate, but Paul Scally is looking around.

Let’s hope it doesn’t mean that Gillingham become like Wimbledon, who moved to Milton Keynes and were renamed the MK Dons.

We’re leaving, too. Not immediately, either. Such are the slow wheels of the church that we’ve had to make that decision over a year in advance. Unlike the Gills, we know exactly when we’ll be moving: August next year. By then I’ll have served eight years here with no time off for good behaviour.

But like the Gills, we don’t yet know where our new home will be. There are so many questions we have to explore before deciding. One thing that’s certain is that we’ll be leaving behind some wonderful friends in Medway.

Some people spend a lot of their lives moving from one place to another – just ask the Royal Engineers. Others live their whole lives in one town – even in one house from birth until death. Sometimes I think it would be good to be in one place permanently and put down deep roots, but the nature of my work doesn’t allow that.

The need to move on is a powerful symbol of the spiritual life. Much of Jesus’ teaching assumes that you can’t stay in the same place spiritually. He said, ‘Follow me’ and ‘I am the way’ – both statements that assume we’re on a journey. He doesn’t give an option to stay put: that is to grow stale and stagnate.

The only question is, where are we heading? A lot of people don’t know and the words of an old Talking Heads song describe the lives of many: ‘Well we know where we’re going but we don’t know where we’ve been … We’re on a road to nowhere.’

We don’t need to be aimless. We can have purpose and direction. Following Jesus does exactly that. It’s a journey where we grow as people, where life takes new twists and turns, leading us into experiences and responsibilities we never thought we were capable of – yet he gives us the ability.

And the destination – well, no holiday brochure has anything to match it.

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Copyright © David D Faulkner, 2006 except where other sources are attributed or noted as inspiration.