Once upon a time there was a man who lived in a house on the cliff top in Torquay. Everyone new that one day the house would fall down the cliff but it hadn’t happen yet so the man felt safe and did nothing except fill the house with life’s little luxuries. The views were wonderful and life was good.

Every so often a storm would come and a little of the cliff beneath the house would crumble away. But the house never fell into the sea. So the man did nothing except invite his friends to come and live in the house with him and enjoy the amazing views.

Then one day a big storm came (as happens about every 20-30 years) and the cliffs became sodden and soft. The people in the surrounding area became afraid and so they all sort shelter in the house. Even thought the winds blew they became a wonderful community.Then in the middle of the night the red cliff just crumbed and fell into the sea. Trees gone, garden gone, patio gone and the house? Well it began to crumble and the walls at one end fell into the sea. The house still stood but it was only a matter of time. The solid ground had gone but the house still stood, well just, so the man did nothing. Except now he had many guests. So he continued to equip the house and cook for everyone, he cut back a little but mostly he just carried on as normal, living in the house on the edge of the cliff that was falling into the sea.

One day the man got bad news, his money had dried up and so he had to make cut backs. He could have asked the people who where living with him what they should all do, he could have asked for help at a house down the road. But no, he thought the answer to his problems would be to get rid of all the people who where now living in his house seeking shelter and comfort from the storms. So with very little notice the man drew in his belt and proposed a new household budget that involved pulling down the house that was already so badly damaged.

He made no provision for all the people that had found care and protection living in his house. He looked for no alternative accommodation. He just put his hands in the air and called in the demolition crews.

If you stand in that place now the views are still fantastic. But the man’s cliff top house has gone. The wonderful community that had lived in his house crumbed like the cliffs and drifted away. Now they live wherever they can and have no shelter from the storm.

What happened to the man you ask? Well he just kept on ignoring the storm and the crumbling cliffs and doing nothing.

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Please sign the Torbay SOS petition and help to Save Our Services http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/torbay-council-save-our-services
Doing nothing is not an option.
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We know how uncomfortable change can be, especially if your a settler. Even for pioneers it can sometime be difficult because there is something in us that resists change even if we are the kind of person who relishes it, we can get to like things just as they are. 

We recently has some refurbishment done in our church kitchen. It was all about making space for new things, bigger teams so that we could do the things we have been called to do even better. Making a difference in others lives often involves change for us.

To make way for the new kitchen some things had to give. There was old pew that had been bolted to one of the walls many years ago. It had to go. Change happens, cheese gets moved an people get upset…. well on this occasion no one complained that the pew had been moved. The work on the new expanded kitchen was completed and we where getting ready for the grand reopening. Teams went into clean up the messes that have been made during the works and lay out the tables and chairs. The Living Room our community cafe was ready for it’s reopening. The night before I went and had a peek, to admire all the good work and I noticed something that was not intentional, but it was terrible and so true of how we are as people. The cheese had been moved back….

Well not the actual cheese, it not on the menu. But where there had been an old pew before the works someone had found two other pews, shorter ones, and placed them exactly where the old pew had been. A completely new kitchen had been fitted, but quite by accident someone had placed these two shorter pews in it’s place. The cheese was back in place. 

People get uncomfortable with change. They want to know where this cheese is at all times and it should always be where it has always been. Leaders bring change, but if you turn your back for a moment the culture, furniture and even cheese will return to how it was before. This is just how people and cultures are. Real change is possible but it requires people who are willing to keep on moving the cheese, even when people move it back.