Have you ever noticed that no matter how fabulous everything is it all comes down to the basics of eating, resting and where the nearest toilet is. Just ask any event planner. We have truly had the most incredible trip in every way, AND we can still fall to bits in want of a toilet (or the 30 pence to pay to get in) or a drink of water or a place to sit down after miles of walking. Logistics is never sexy but always needed. Maintenance rarely makes it into budgets unless your accountant reminds you and yet this is what stands between joy and and utter discomfort and possibly misery.
Today we visited the popular, very in demand attraction, the London Eye (a giant ferris wheel with enclosed gondolas that give you spectacular views of this incredible city), walked along the South Bank to the Millennium Bridge (a foot bridge; the one the baddies destroyed in Harry
The Millennium Bridge, London
Potter) and attempted to go the the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street. Each segment of our journey today was stopped in its’ tracks to find a toilet at Waterloo Station (my husband missed out because he had no coins), a place to warm ourselves and have lunch (thank God of the Founders Pub by the river) and a hot coffee when we found out that a two hour wait was needed for the Sherlock Holmes Museum (we made a command decision to skip this). In the evening, again, worn out and a bit testy, we stumbled into a local pub near our flat only to rest and have a drink and ended up staying for dinner. It turns out even ex Lt. Col’s and college students get tired and need to take a break.
Everybody needs a drink of water.
I am so grateful to find a toilet when I need one, a drink of water, a bench or a friend in need to point the way or shout out the appropriate tube directions when we get on the train going the wrong way. This happened last night when work on the District and Circle lines led to convoluted traveling and a HUGE crowd at Piccadilly Circus. My daughter and I got separated from my husband and our other daughter and only our old habit as a family to have an emergency FUP (forming up place) reunited us. We ended up being funneled down different tunnels and had to make our own way back to Earl’s Court Station. Again, logistics ruled the day; an Underground employee was dispatched forthwith for crowd control (sadly, after we were separated) to establish flow. Holy Spirit must really love to speak to us through maintenance and logistics because they must be a part of our every day and every moment. I was both struck by how orderly the crowd was and also realized it would only take one upset person to set off a riot or panic. I myself thought it would be easy to feel claustrophobic in this very enclosed space with hundreds of people pouring in from all directions.
The crowds at Picadilly Circus Station
There was literally nowhere to move. I was afraid the crowd would accidentally push people over the edge onto the tracks or down the stairs. In a case like this we can ask, “What do we need right now, right here? ” Answering this will almost always involve logistics or maintenance. (Where to go, what to do, how to help.) Why not give thanks and enjoy the comfort and joy offered by logistics and maintenance? Though universal, divine life might not depend on logistics and maintenance our human lives certainly do and this always gives us an opportunity to notice how we are feeling, ASK for guidance and then give thanks for what we receive or notice.
What logistics and maintenance can you give thanks for today? Take a moment and do so and don’t forget the myriad of people whose jobs are totally logistics and maintenance, give thanks and praise to them, too, why don’t you?
