‘I’ll fidget! I’ll fidget to the very end!’
I fidget. I’ve done it for decades. I don’t do it all the time, but I do it a lot. I tap my fingers on my desk; I twirl a pen in my fingers; I click my fingers. In the good old days when people carried coins (you remember them), I would fiddle with a coin in my fingers if I was out and about somewhere.
I’ve even organised my fidgeting. On my desk is a small tin (that used to hold some very nice lollies) that is home to nine fidgeting items, including a mini slinky, some magnets, a small spinning top, a mini cricket ball and, of course, a fidget spinner. Often, when I settle into a long online meeting, the tin is moved closer, and these items get a (below screen visibility) workout.
Working in editorial departments for 12 years meant I often had a pen in hand. It not only got used a lot but would give me something to fiddle with. I would even pick up my pen and take it with me when going to see someone at another desk. I knew I’d reached addiction level when I would walk to the bathroom and realise I’d picked up my pen to take with me!
I suspect William Booth fidgeted. From my reading, he strikes me as someone who was full of energy and constantly on the go, and I suspect sitting down and not moving was largely beyond him. He had a kind of ferocious energy that consumed everything in his path. I once read that his son, Bramwell – a far calmer man – described him by saying: “His normal condition was restless. He was always a kind of travelling earthquake.”
I have a photo of the Founder in my office: he’s sitting at a desk with papers spread out in front of him, and he’s holding an ink pen. I suspect the pen got quite a workout, and I even wonder – highly inappropriately, of course – if he absentmindedly took it to the bathroom with him. I bet you he did.
In the Bible, I suspect Peter was fidgety. He seemed to have a lot of energy and wasn’t one for sitting still. Peter fished (John 21:3); he walked on water (Matthew 14:29); he climbed mountains (Matthew 17:1); he ran (Luke 24:12); he swam (John 21:7); he laid hands on people (Acts 8:17), he even waved a sword around (John 18:10). Peter and verbs just go together naturally: “Watch Peter jump. Watch Peter run. Watch Peter swim. Watch Peter slice someone’s head open with a sharp bit of metal.”
He was a fisherman by trade, so I suspect he fidgeted with fishing lures or bits of rope to practise knots with. I’d like to think he also had a little wooden cross in his pocket (purchased from Koorong), but I may be getting ahead of things with that thought.
God bless fidgeters everywhere. While living a contemplative life full of calm, serene reflections on the life of faith is admirable, God also needs people who can’t sit still. Think of us as the fidgety part of the body of Christ – who, incidentally, probably walked around with a few nails and screws and old drill bits in his pocket ... just to fidget with.
Major Mal Davies is the Assistant Divisional Commander for the Victoria Division.
