Keep in Step
As I am 69 I can remember wind-up gramophones. At Primary School we had country dancing to music played on one. One teacher would always say “The music won’t wait for you, keep in time and keep in step with it.”
In one tower I rang at as a teenager there was a lady who would always argue with the conductor. In those days we were taught to follow their instructions. (Even now I think it is a good maxim.) Doreen would grab hold and we would start ringing, she would go wrong, and the conductor would try to put her right. “Dodge with me now, Doreen.” “No!” “Dodge now, Doreen.” “No!” It would end up firing out with the exasperated conductor saying “Stand!”
In Galatians chapter 5 verse 25 we read “Keep in step with the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit leads us to Christ when we become Christians, and then leads us into all truth. (See John 16 verse 13.) In a sense He is like the Divine Heavenly Conductor, and when we follow Him and keep in step with Him, all goes well. When we follow our own way, then we get crashes and firing until we get back on track.
The earthly conductors may not always get it right, but I still try to do what I am asked. My Heavenly Conductor, the Holy Spirit, is never wrong. I try to follow Him every day. Sometimes I don’t, but then God is forgiving and puts me back on track on the blue line (“the straight and narrow way”).
Revd Michael Haighton
Guild of Clerical Ringers