One day
my sister Brenda asked Mammy
what was for lunch that day.
“Green pea soup”, replied Mammy.
For Brenda,
this was simply the last straw.
So Brenda took drastic action –
she ran away from home.

This happened in Derry
at the start of The Troubles.
Brenda made a bee-line
for the Bog Side.
There, she spotted a woman
who was doing her shopping.
In and out of the shops
went the woman,
and in and out of the shops,
close behind her,
went Brenda.
The woman became concerned
at this uninvited follower
and she flagged down
a passing British army patrol.
Several minutes later
Brenda, then aged three and a half,
was picked up by British soldiers
(who gave her a bar of Cadbury’s Whole Nut
and soon reunited her with Mammy).

Brenda, at that early age,
was simply looking for
someone to follow.

I am reminded of this
by today’s gospel reading
in which Jesus is walking along,
minding his own business,
only to find that he is being followed
by two strangers.
Jesus’ response
is one of openness, generosity
and welcome –
he invites the strangers
to spend the day with him.
These strangers accept Jesus’ invitation
go on to become
disciples of Jesus.

There are times in life
when we all need
someone to follow,
someone who is prepared
to make time for us,
someone who will not baulk
at how needy we might be.

At those times
when we need someone to follow,
someone to help us,
why not look to Jesus?
He will always
make time for us.
He will always respond
with openness, generosity
and welcome.
(And I don’t think that he’ll ever tell us
that it’s green pea soup
for lunch!)

© Claire Murray, 4th January 2018
(John 1: 35-42)