Furlough





Suddenly a word is in the news that has had little usage in
recent years.





Furlough.





It is traditionally used to describe a time away from the
front line for soldiers. I first came across it in a church context. As a young
Christian I went to a Brethren church and was told that a lady missionary was coming to
visit on furlough. I thought it must be some kind of vehicle!





Actually it is a vehicle of sorts. It’s one that allows you
to take time out. To rest.





For many in the UK the word is not welcome. Its newer definition
is being laid off from work with 80% of pay due to the effects of the Corona
Virus on our economy.





But maybe in this lockdown, we can all experience some
furlough in its original sense? The root of the word is ‘verlof’. This is Dutch
and means ‘permission’.





We have permission to take time out right now. Permission to
dream, to plan, to think. To do something different. Not to waste the time but
to use it as time away from the front line.





So what will we do? Read a book we have always intended to
read? Pick up the watercolours again? Study a language? For those of us with a Christian
faith, to go deeper into a book of the Bible?





I appreciate that some reading this will be experiencing
furlough with kids running around their feet and the sense that they have less
time than at work! Yes, but it’s still a different time. There will still be
moments that can be used in a different way.





I don’t expect that most of us reading these words will ever
get another furlough. Let’s appreciate the blessing along with the challenge.



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