The 'nudge' of conscience or conscientisation... the gentle (or not so gentle) 'shove in the back' attributable to God's Holy Spirit... that inner voice that says 'do it'... call it what you will, today we are invited to listen to our guts (and not the rumble tums!!)

GET INSPIRED:

Spend five minutes on today’s author’s [of the reflection on 40 Acts website] website. Get inspired by some amazing generosity stories. Perhaps even share a few.

FEELING BRAVE

Think about the last time you ignored your generous gut instinct. Is there any way you could do that thing today? If not then pray and ask God to give you another opportunity. Wherever you are today, watch out for one. Maybe you could buy The Big Issue, say yes where you might have ignored a request, or make a donation to a cause.

CARPE DIEM IT

Go outside for an hour today, to a place where lots of people are – that might be a supermarket, a coffee shop, a high street. Take some time to listen out for any generous prompts you get. When the opportunity comes, seize it.

I think what this has made me ponder is not the 'urges' I have to be generous but the reality that the huge numbers of Big Issue vendors, beggars and chuggers I see everyday have led to a hardening of my heart, a narrowing of my vision, a less generous 'gut'.  I expect the sense that I am being sworn at in some Eastern European language, or the witnessed arguments over 'pitches' between vendors and among beggars don't really help either.  Perhaps today what I need is to tune in afresh to my intuition and act on what I detect.