Page 6 - summer edition2 2023

The Higher Authority Stephen Feltham

A& Q 7
Be aware of the spirit of God at work in the ordinary activities and experience of your daily life. Spiritual
learning continues throughout life, and often in unexpected ways. There is inspiration to be found all
around us, in the natural world, in the sciences and arts, in our work and friendships, in our sorrows as
well as in our joys. Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come? Do you approach new
ideas with discernment?

I had an exciting week last week. I
had been much preoccupied for a
couple of years or so in the pursuit of
some sort of adrenaline rush, an
excitement over and beyond the
mundane trudge of daily life. I test
rode a motor bike a couple of years
ago and much to the relief of my
children it was I who decided it was
not a safe pastime for someone
halfway through their eighth decade.
It didn’t stop me from wishing
though, and in consequence, and as
luck would have it, an opportunity
presented itself for me to purchase,
what to me, was a rather fetching
piece of automobile excitement. My
kids however, and those to whom I mentioned it, and others with just a modicum of common sense,
seemed to think otherwise. But, such was my drive (no pun intended), and desire for that adrenaline
rush, that I was incapable of being diverted from my goal, and so I and my partner went off to Reading to
test drive what was going to be my new car and the fulfilment of all my latter-day ambitions.

Or so I thought.

It was a great day. We arrived at the car showroom full of eager anticipation and were warmly welcomed
and chatted up by the salesman eager to make his sale. Firstly, there was the escorted test drive and then
I was allowed to take the car out with Dee, my partner.

What a rush. What fun. What an absolute hoot and total enjoyment. Of course, sitting in an open top little
car so close to the road made even 30 miles an hour seem like 60 but it was fun, and the car, being so
light had a fabulous power to weight ratio so it was exceptionally nippy and clung to the road with
amazing roadholding ability. I was in heaven. (And that was the fear of my kids of course (that the car
would take me to heaven much sooner than intended!)

Well, driving it was one thing but getting into it was a bit of a gymnastic exercise. Getting out was, well
let’s say it, a bit of a challenge. In fact, I soon came to the view that one needed a surgical hoist and a
surgeon to extricate oneself from this tiny but exceptionally well-fitting piece of machinery.

It didn’t matter though. It was fun. It was an adrenaline rush. I wanted it and I had set my heart on it or
something similar for the last couple of years or so, and therefore it and I were going to be joined in
matrimony. It was a true love match. Or so I thought.

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