During the summer holidays we took our grandchildren to an Amazelab workshop in Sheffield, where the inspirational Leonie taught about chemical reactions as the children made slime. Once all their pouring and stirring were completed, they got to stretch the slime to use it to make different shapes.
As with many scientific things, getting the right consistency was key. Too wet, and the slime was just a mush. Too dry, and it did not stretch properly.. But when it was just the right consistency (facilitated by the expert advice!), it was like a magical substance: elastic and malleable. It reminded me of kneading dough when making bread.
It was a messy process. I don’t much like making bread or moulding clay precisely because of that. I hate wearing gloves, as the thin, disposable gloves which protected hands just make me sweat, but I also hate getting sticky substances all over me. The children didn’t seem to share my abhorrence of ‘goo’ and merrily played with their slime contentedly.
The elasticity of slime became a parable as I watched them. They stretched the slime into all kinds of shapes, pummelling and stretching it with gusto. It felt like I was watching life itself. Don’t we sometimes feel pummelled and stretched by life? Sometimes I have to be a parent, grandparent, teacher, cook, cleaner, organiser, creative, administrator, decorator, expert on risk assessments and fundraiser all in one day. I feel stretched at times, spread so thinly that if I were butter on a slice of bread, you’d be hard put to see it! The diversity and demands of life leave us feeling as stretched as slime.
We’re not the first to feel like this. Paul spoke of being hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, abandoned, any one of those circumstances being enough to reduce to tears, yet he also spoke of not being crushed or in despair, not abandoned, not destroyed. (2 Cor 4:8-9) There is an elasticity, a flexibility, to Paul which is the model for our lives. He knew what it was to feel pressure and weakness (2 Cor 11:28-29), yet he did not crack.
In the film ‘The Incredibles, Helen Parr looks like an ordinary Mum juggling the demands of a husband and three children (sounds familiar?!) In truth, she is also ‘Elastigirl’, an elastic and dexterous superheroine who can stretch any part of her body to great lengths, and mould it into several shapes and sizes.
I often think of Elastigirl when I survey the range of activities expected of me in an average day. I’m not literally elastic, nor can I stretch like slime. But I know all about juggling responsibilities, as most of us do in the modern world.
The Holy Spirit in us provides the power we need to be flexible, dexterous, versatile and capable. We may not be able to do things in our own strength, but in HIm, all things become possible. Today, let’s stretch with flexibility and adaptability, as incredible as The Incredibles, through the power and grace of God. (2 Cor 12:8-10)