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From Jim Harris, Art Historian:

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It鈥檚 Monday and the week stretches before us, unknown and exciting, full of optimism and hope, full of possibility, potential and the thrill of discovery. Or, if you鈥檙e anything like me, full of things you鈥檙e not quite ready for, things that aren鈥檛 properly thought out, things that bring with them the dread horror of failure, disgrace and public humiliation.

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Ok, perhaps that鈥檚 a little strong but the start of the week always comes bearing the likelihood of situations in which we might just have to busk. I used to play trumpet in a band and every so often I鈥檇 have to play a solo. We had a great bassist, Tuffie, who鈥檇 say 鈥淛ust play. Make something up鈥�, implying that literally anyone could improvise eight bars.听 But I was terrified of improvising. It鈥檚 risky.听 If I was going to play a solo, I wanted notes. I wanted to be secure, to be prepared.

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Preparation is important. Practice, rehearsal, chords, a script.听 So we prepare. We check our diaries and make a plan, an agenda, a PowerPoint. But what happens if the thing you鈥檙e preparing for doesn鈥檛 work out? In the Bible, John the Baptist cried out, 鈥楶repare the way of the Lord鈥�.听 So people prepared.听 The Jews had been preparing for a thousand years.听 Trouble was, when Jesus arrived, he wasn鈥檛 what they expected.

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Instead of being a king, he was poor; instead of going to the off-licence, he turned water into wine; instead of staying dead, he came back to life. Preparing the way of the Lord was a nightmare. How can you prepare for something that is almost certain to surprise you?

Well, the answer is to improvise.听 So Jesus鈥� friends improvised, took risks, changed the plan. Peter stopped being a fisherman and started being a leader.听 Paul stopped being a bigot and started to love his enemies.

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Whenever I finally took a risk on eight bars of unwritten trumpet, the song changed; not always for the better, but usually. So this week, I鈥檒l prepare, and maybe I鈥檒l follow the plan.听 But maybe, occasionally, I鈥檒l give a little, listen, respond.听 Improvise. And I don鈥檛 know, but I reckon that might not just get me through the week but actually get me somewhere; somewhere more vulnerable and less secure, certainly, but also somewhere kinder, more exciting.听 Somewhere that just sounds better.

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