I took my daughter to our local health centre recently, I noticed that when we arrived, she had to get out of the car before I reversed fully into the parking space, chiefly because the space would allow sufficient room for the car, so long as we didn’t want to get out of it! I was entertained for about half an hour watching driver after driver squeezing into parking spaces and then discovering that there was insufficient room and several places remained empty because adjacent cars were parked right on the lines.
My observation was that the problem is not that parking spaces have got narrower, but cars have got larger. One young lady pulled in driving a mini, and compared to the minis of forty years ago, the thing was enormous. The problem is that as cars are fitted with safety features, and as people get bigger, cars grow and some of the new electric models are huge, and because there are increasing numbers of cars on the road, we need places to park them and if parking spaces are made wider, fewer cars can be accommodated. Thankfully, my daughter returned before my head exploded trying to think of a satisfactory solution.
Thinking about this afterwards, I think that the problem is that life has moved at such a rapid pace during my lifetime that while some aspects progress at speed, others lag behind. Houses are chucked up to provide for the ever-swelling population, but the infrastructure needed doesn’t keep pace. Medical care advances at a wonderful rate and conditions that destroyed lives a few years ago become treatable, at a cost and our success in some areas means that increasing amounts of money need to be thrown at the NHS which struggles to keep in step.
Technology is both a blessing and curse with teenagers suffering from the mental strain of the way information is shared in seconds, globally and lives can be ruined, and the safety net is insufficient to catch those who fall. Even in my line of work, I see small, elderly churches trying to keep a pace with the rapidly changing world and wearing themselves out.
What are we to do? Repeatedly in the Gospel stories Jesus takes himself away from the action, to take stock and prepare for the way ahead. I have just updated my diary for my new appointment from September on and it seems that a significant amount of my time will be spent in coffee mornings, just sitting down with folk chatting and listening and I think that this is a good thing. A bit like the car park at the health centre, maybe we all need a bit more space, space to stop and take stock, space to relax and recharge the batteries, space to spend time just chatting about nothing of huge significance, space to listen to other. Space is important and in fast moving world we possibly all need just a little more elbow room.