I do a lot of stupid things. Some of them are just dumb. And some of them are a bit dangerous. Last weekend I lost my glasses because I didn’t notice I wasn’t wearing them. That was just dumb.
When I was thirteen, I bought a catapult, which I hid from my parents because I didn’t think they’d approve. I used it to fire stones and bits of potato down the garden from my bedroom window. And that was a bit dangerous. But that’s not the stupid part.
One day I thought it would be interesting to fire something else, so I went and got a meat skewer from the kitchen and put that in the leather pouch of the catapult. Don’t try this at home.
I stood at the window, pulled back the elastic and let go. The skewer shot out of the pouch at tremendous speed, straight into the back of my hand. It stung a bit. Did I mention don’t try this at home? Really.
So the question now was, “show and tell or duck and cover”? I was never going to tell my Mum I’d shot myself with a meat skewer so I pulled it out, ran my hand under the tap for a bit, had a little lie down, and then buried the catapult at the bottom of the garden. I put a plaster on the hole in my hand where the skewer had been and never mentioned it. That’s how stupid I felt. That’s how stupid I was.
Christians believe that God knows we’re all a bit dumb – but also that no matter what we’re like or what we do, he thinks we have the potential to be absolutely brilliant. It’s the point of Jesus, really – to show us how good we can be and to give us the chance of a fresh start, a new crack at reaching our potential, not once, but every day.
I reckon we all need that – an opportunity to forget the stupid and catch sight of our potential. Without it I’d have been crushed by my own dumbness a long time ago. But with it – well, it’s what makes getting up in the morning worthwhile. Anything could happen. And that’s got to be worth a Song of Praise. Or is it a Hymn?
This is 100% true. I shot myself through the hand with a meat skewer.