One of the seminar tracks at the Carey Family Conference was "How to be a hero, for ordinary people". The idea behind this was that, even though we aren't all called to lead international reform movements, surely we could live a life of faith (like the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11) in the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
One of the seminars was on work. It looked at how Joseph lived a life of faith, in all sorts of adverse circumstances. How he was looking for the fulfilment of God's promises. How he did his job as he was supposed to. How he accepted the circumstances in which he found himself. How he refused to separate his faith in God from the rest of his life.
I had to go back to work today after my summer annual holiday. My employer is doing the normal thing of messing around with when I actually need to be there. I'm conscious of the fact that my job doesn't exactly have a lasting significance in world terms, and I end up wasting a lot of time. A large part of me resents the fact that I have to spend so much time there, and away from my family. I find it tempting to do what I can to use the system to get what I can from my employer - and I am conscious of the fact that they are doing the same to me. It's really tough to live in the heroic way that the presenter suggested.
The presenter was me.
