Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: Debbie Duncan

  • Forgiveness Fridays: If we had just one day… by Debbie Duncan

    Debbie Duncan asks some searching questions, all brought to her mind when her daughter spotted a dragonfly over the water. What would you do if you had just one day to live?

    Recently on one of our recent hot, summery days we decided to escape the heat of the house and head to a place by water.[1] As we walked by the river we stopped and saw a colourful shimmering dragonfly. My daughter said, “Adult dragonflies only live one day. What would you do if you just had one day”?

    Her question got me thinking. What would you do if you had just one day? Most of us would you want to tell our nearest and dearest that we love them. What else would you do? I think we would want to know we are forgiven and we’d want to forgive others.

    The famous French sceptic and key thinker of the enlightenment age, Francois-Marie Arouet (aka Voltaire) was a deist. He did not believe in the Bible or that we have a God who intervened in the world. In contrast, his view of God was one of a distant figure.

    Voltaire died a terrible death. His nurse is said to have said of him: “For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness.”

    Thankfully I know the forgiveness that God can bring. I asked Jesus to be at the centre of my life quite a few years ago now – 34 years recently! I know however that I am not as loving and forgiving as I should be. When Peter asked Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother or sister Jesus answered, “seventy times seven” (Matthew 6:21-35). Perhaps he was reminding the Jewish people of the 490 years they spent in captivity, in slavery. We are reminded that even during the most difficult of times we need to forgive. He wasn’t tell us to forgive 490 times but reminding us there is no end to forgiveness after all; He gave His life so we can know God’s forgiveness. It is really a challenge to forgive and not allow bitterness take hold.

    Edith Louisa Cavell was a Christian and a nurse who is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers on both sides during the First World War. She is also known for helping 200 soldiers escape German-occupied Belgian. She was arrested for helping soldiers escape and charged with treason and sentenced to death. Despite international pressure she was brought before a German firing squad in 1915 as a spy. Her last words are said to be, “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.” Her Christian beliefs led her to help those who needed it – German or British and even her firing squad.

    I don’t want you to think I have a fascination with death! The challenge is to live each day as if it is your last, living as Jesus would live. Loving and forgiving others – even facing a firing squad or a painful death, even forgiving the thief beside you on a cross.

    Debbie Duncan is a senior lecturer in nursing, a church leader and minister’s wife. She is married to Malcolm and is mother to their four grown-up children. She is author of over 40 professional articles, is writing her second textbook and is co-author to Life Lines with Cathy Le Feuvre. Her first solo book The art of daily resilience was published by Lion Monarch in February and she is currently writing her next book. Connect with her at twitter: @dduncan42; her website: debbielduncan.wordpress.com and via email: debbielduncan@yahoo.co.uk.

    [1] We ended up walking along the Thames river at Runnymede which is a beautiful and historical site where the Magna Carta was sealed in 1215.

  • Heading Home by Debbie Duncan

    No Place Like HomeToday’s installment in the “There’s No Place Like Home” series is Debbie Duncan, lovely author I had the privilege of working with at Authentic Media with the release of her co-authored book Life Lines, a brilliant fictionalized-but-based-in-reality look at friendship. She’s a minister’s wife and nurse who has taught at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, King’s College London. She and Malcolm have four teenage children and live in Buckinghamshire, UK.

    Am I a turtle without his shell?

    We have a natural affinity to the past; something captivates us when we hear where are from or when we learn about our ancestors. Certainly the television programme, “Who do you think you are” has been a huge success, facilitating an increase in people looking into their own genealogy. I have managed to get back to 1600 in my family tree, uncovering a pirate called Foxy Ned, a lady of the manor who ran off with the groomsman and a diamond scandal. My family have many roots in many countries and I cannot on good authority say where I am from, although I do claim to be Scottish as Scotland is where I spent my formative years. Home, however, is a different matter.

    IMG_2909Home is where I feel safe, surrounded by those I love. At the moment we are based in Buckinghamshire, having lived in the same house for more than five years, which is a record for us. Three of my children are presently away from home at university. When my oldest daughter, Anna, went, she had a box of decorations for her room. It was really important to her that this box was packed and went with her. In fact she packed it before she packed any clothes or books. On her first evening in her new halls the box was un-packed and she strung up her lights and hung up her photos.

    Susan Clayton, an environmental psychologist says, “For many people, their home is part of their self-definition.” They have bought in to this concept of home, paying for a mortgage or spending money renovating and decorating buildings. Walls are covered with photos and pictures of where we have been and shelves are covered with souvenirs from past adventures. I have to confess I have the odd smattering of tartan throughout the house.

    “Where are you from” is an important question but “where do you call home?” should be the question we ask. And if we think that “home is where the heart is” then home is where we are right now. For the moment for us that’s in Chalfont St Peter, where I have come to love the community. For instance, when we experienced tragic loss earlier this year I had a strong desire to stay at home – I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to feel safe and secure surrounded by people I know.

    I am made even more aware of how much I value this place I call home as I have been involved in a pilot project in a nearby town as an outreach nurse for the homeless. They live in a hostel where they are supported by a variety of care givers and staff. They may not have a physical space that they have decorated but they have a place of safety where people care for them. Some of the clients have talked about how they feel exposed not having their own place – a little like a turtle without his shell.

    IMG_2818
    The Duncans

    As Christians our natural trajectory should be towards our real home. This place I live in is a temporary measure but like a turtle without a shell maybe this keeps me focused, awaiting the day when I am made whole and complete. The money I spend on my surroundings means where I live looks comfortable and may reflect some of my identity but that is only truly revealed when I am in my real home.

    Home is where we are right now, but for those who believe in Jesus it is also only a temporary state. I am not defined by the pirates and diamond dealers of my past or whether I am English or Scottish. I am defined by being part of God’s kingdom, heading towards my final destination of my real home.

    Reepicheep, the valiant talking mouse in CS Lewis’ book The Last Battle, stood on the shore at the end of the story and said, “I have come home at last! This is my real country. I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life.” He may not have been a turtle, but he found his shell.