Any ordinary day

'It could happen to anyone,' declared the bystander at a  car crash. 'Accidents happen.' And she was right. I recently read the fabulous book Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales. One reviewer describes it:


The day that turns a life upside down usually starts like any other, but what happens the day after? Dual Walkley Award winner Leigh Sales investigates how ordinary people endure the unthinkable.
In the book Sales describes how the day may start as usual with getting up, breakfast, cleaning teeth and out the door. Then Boom! The massacre at Port Arthur or the death by drowning of a partner or ?? Life (and death) happens. 

So how do we deal with that? Do we live in fear? Is this why so many of us are anxious? What does it mean when people say, 'Stay safe'? Should we try to wrap ourselves and those we love in cotton wool? As if it were possible...

The book is fascinating as it details the varying responses to adversity of people you may have read about in the news.  As I pondered these thoughts in the night I found the words of an old hymn strangely comforting.

I heard the voice of Jesus say: 
Come unit me and rest.
Lay down, oh weary one, lay down
Your head upon my breast.
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and warn and sad
I found in him a resting place
And he has made me glad.





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