A ‘born rebel’ detecting the Spirit of God in unexpected places
When Heather Lawson contributed to her church’s ‘Heroes of the faith’ series, she spoke about Rosa Parks, a key figure in the US civil rights movement.
Parks was arrested in 1955 after famously refusing to vacate her bus seat when asked by the driver to make way for a white person. Her arrest triggered a prolonged protest leading ultimately to segregation on buses being abolished.
Heather admires Rosa’s life-long commitment to Christian faith despite the difficulties she faced. She highlights the sense of God-given peace Parks experienced as she calmly sat through the confrontation with the bus driver. “I would definitely have been stroppy, and shouted at someone,” Heather admits.
Heather seems a born rebel, forever since childhood on the side of fairness and truth. The angry teenager, inspired by the punk rock scene, contacted MPs about causes dear to her such as animal testing, and VAT on sanitary products.
Now a passionate adult, she calls out racism and sexism, and seeks to be a voice for the voiceless – for animals (a shepherd’s daughter, she’s a former veterinary nurse), for adults with learning disabilities, for children (she now works in the Butterfly Rooms at Cauldeen Primary School with children who have complex needs).
Christian faith is central to her life. The child who asked to be taken to church has now discovered that God promises “hope and a future” and that, in Jesus, she has “life to the full”.
“That’s quite awesome isn’t it?” Heather enthuses.
At times, she has turned away from faith, but has always been drawn back: “Lord, if you get me out of this, I’ll go back to church.”
Now, baptised and a member of Inverness Baptist Church, she feels stable and anchored, conversing with God constantly, full of gratitude for the many, many good things in her life, inspired especially by her pastor and two Christian women with “the kindest of hearts.”
But though humble and willing to learn, she remains a rebel, saying it like she sees it and seeking to see through the eyes of Jesus.
Reflecting on Rosa Parks has “rekindled the fire” within her. And Christianity, as she points out, is “counter-cultural”, calling out injustice and ways of being which drain rather than fulfil us.
Another hero, not a Christian, is John Lydon, formerly known as Johnny Rotten. Having little time for institutions and systems of ideas, whether religious or atheist, he continues to critique culture.
And “Oh my gosh,” Heather says, “the love that man had for his wife when she was dying of Alzheimer’s….’
Is Heather detecting the Spirit of God working in the most unexpected places?
It's God, Heather believes, who is “stoking the fire within me. Something’s going on, and I can’t wait to find out what it is.”
