One of the strangest things that has stuck with me since my time in primary school is the fact that Eskimos have 16 different words for snow. At the time, I remember thinking something like ‘No way, that’s crazy, why would you want 16 different words for something you can describe with one!’, but on reflection, I have a good idea what they’re getting at.
Take the British obsession with rain, for example. Yesterday, I was out on Dartmoor with a few friends. In the time it took us to climb Haytor, the weather went from fine to spotting to spitting to a fine drizzle to a steady fall to coming down in buckets. That’s five phrases right there, and I reckon you’ll have a good idea what I mean by each one. Suddenly, the Eskinos don’t look so daft.
So why is it that we have so many words to describe water falling out of the sky, and so few to describe the important things, like our relationships. How do I describe the affection I feel for my wife? I’d say ‘I love you’. But how do I express a desire for a plate of chips? ‘I’d love a plate of chips.’
I think this is one of the reasons that we find things like relationships difficult to talk about – we just don’t have the vocabulary. Perhaps the answer is to forego language altogether. Instead of telling people how we feel about them, we should show them instead. We could become a nation of men and women who place deeds above chatter, and who understand each other through the quality of our doing, not the quantity of our words.
After all, who cares what the weather’s like when someone gives you a big hug and takes you out for tea.

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There we are then. Another year of Intern-ness has drawn to a close. Of our team of four, one is off to Bristol University, two are getting married (to each other), and one will be joining us again in September.
It’s a time of mixed emotions; we’re able to look back on all the incredible things the team have achieved over the last 10 months, the personal journeys that they’ve made with God and the great things that each of them will be going on to over the next few months and years. But this year has come to an end, and it’s a little sad too.
Being the way I am, I’m not always a big fan of change. Given the chioce, I generally go for the ‘If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach. But when you work with people (and particularly young people), change is going to happen. So we can moan, huff, and hark back to the ‘good old days’, or we can get on with it.
Jesus was a changer. Not only did he change the people around him, but he changed his approach with each one. Take a moment to look at a few healing stories; they’re not cookie-cutter copies, where only the location and illness differ, but a series of unique encounters. Likewise his jousting with the pharisees, or those (like Zaccheus, Peter and the Samaritan woman) who came to understand who he really was.
Next year’s group of interns will be different to this year’s. They’ll meet different people, learn different lessons and achieve different things. I’ll probably have to change the way I do some things, and I know I’ll try to change the way they do some things too. It won’t be a carbon copy of this year, but that means the team will be released to face the new challenges that God gives them, and will learn for themselves how to do this to the best of their ability as they cover new ground and set new boundaries for us all. Bring on September!

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