This weekend I almost ticked another ‘must do’ item off my personal list of things-to-do-sometime.

Over this weekend in Australia we commemorate our service men and women as we celebrate ANZAC Day. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps arrived at Gallipoli at dawn during the World War 1 offensive. For this reason, all around the country, Dawn Services are held on ANZAC Day to remember their sacrifice.

I almost made it to the one at Martin Place this year. It’s been on my to-do list for quite some time. I woke up in time (actually I was awake before my alarm) and had my clothes all in a pile so I could dress myself easily whilst still half asleep. But as I woke up and realised my throat was not in a friendly state, I realised the wisdom decision was to not get myself on a train before 3am that day.

Somewhat annoyed, but knowing it was the best thing to do, I turned the alarm off and went back to bed. Not that I got that much more sleep, because I woke up again at about 4:30. At this point in time, I decided to get up to pray instead.

When it was light again, I reflected that, fortunately, there have been other times when I have managed to tick some of my ‘must-do’ items off my list such as:

• Fly to the other side of the country and visit Perth. I ticked this one off the list just before the pandemic hit.
• Run in the City to Surf. I ticked this one off the list in 2023 and due to a lack of training, endured significant pain walking down stairs for the following week.
• Sing at the Sydney Opera House. Actually, I’ve done this a few times in combined choirs and at a Getty worship concert, but it always sounds good to say that you’ve done it.

Actually I wouldn’t mind doing all of those three again sometime.

Regardless, this got me thinking about me and lists, because I do make quite a few.

I even, rather pathetically, can engage in dual listing, such as when I write a weekend list and include *See work list as an item (I may have that on a sticky note right now, who can say?….). Or when I know there’s another post-it-note floating around my work desk but I can’t place it just yet. Then, a more generic *See other list gets called upon until the other post-it-note resurfaces.

However, it does strike me that the Christian life does not operate in this way. Yes, we may be very organised and list out what ministry tasks we are doing when, and how. But overarchingly, the Christian life is not about list ticking. It’s about relationship and character.

You don’t tick doing relationship with God off a list. God is not a task and neither are people. If we are treating God or people in the church (or anywhere) as though they are tasks, then we aren’t relating to them in a humane manner. And we aren’t acknowledging their beautiful uniqueness and the creativity that God activated when he made them.

The same with character. You don’t tick working on character off the list and say that you’ve achieved holiness, spiritual fervour and joy. You can’t. Character is a state of being that can change quite quickly.

I’m a human being. I might be feeling very joyful one day and extremely anxious the next. Hopefully as Christians we’re becoming more and more like Jesus over the years, but we will continue working on our character until we reach heaven.

Or as you might say in the Opera House (…if it’s still PC), ‘It’s not over until the fat lady sings.’

Yours writing another list,

Alison