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I try my best not to take on freelance work — an odd thing to say, perhaps, in the midst of what many describe as the world’s worst recession — but somehow these jobs seem to find me. A couple of years ago a very amiable chap pursued me for weeks in an effort to persuade me to put my typesetting hat back on and assist him in his work. Apologising profusely, I had to turn him down, for the timing was just not right; well, it was more than that: his own work was of such a high quality that I feared being unable to match it. I hope I was not rude when I stubbornly turned him down.

The past few weeks have been a bit like that all over again. I get a phone call asking if I still do freelance work. I say no. They say could I make an exception? I say, well I’m terribly busy. They say, well just think it over. I say okay, I’ll consider it. They call back telling me they’d really like me to take it on. I give in, agree.

I would probably still be stubborn had I not read some words somewhere that put these requests into perspective. I can’t find the passage now, but it went along the lines of, do not refuse anything good anyone should offer you, because that good is really a gift from God. Accepting this poorly paraphrased wisdom, I now find myself submitting to the requests for my time. It appears that God has some sort of plan for me, although I cannot see what it is at present.

So I take on more work than I really have time for, eating up my evenings and weekends. Count your blessings, you say. Yes, Alhamdulilah, God is ever generous and kind, despite my sorry state. Perhaps it is the answer to prayers, the kind of substitution that replaces time for sin with no time at all. The devil finds work for idle hands and all that — or rather, the devil tempts all other men, but idle men tempt the devil. Tis one thing after the other.

Yes, Alhamdulilah, I should say. After work and dinner, and after the children have gone to bed, it is back to a second round of work. So far it has all been web work — like this website for the Curriculum for Cohesion project — but one chap talks of a book to be produced. I have tried to suggest that he needs an expert, a scholar, someone of fine repute, but once more my reluctance is ignored.

Years ago, when I was actively seeking work, I tried my best to turn down a typesetting job for a very important work. Back then I needed the work and the money, but I felt the task was too important to be given to me. Instead I recommended all of the typesetters I most admired whose skills far outweighed my own, but somehow, in the end, the job came back to me. I tried to refuse it, but it was destined for me. It is humbling to see what happens when we give up trying to be masters of our own destiny. Sometimes there are good reasons why our reluctance is ignored.