Mid-Week Devotion Good Day Parish Family and Friends “I am not a teacher, but an awaken-er.” (Robert Frost) It is a very busy time of year - childrens sports programs are in full-bloom, our own schedules are filled with volunteer, recreational, and vocational commitments; the weeks just fly by. My casual conversations lately are laced with comments from people confessing that their lives are full, perhaps too full. My own household is no exception. While my family and I put great value in having a sit-down meal together at supper time, we have been struggling lately to make that happen as lifes opportunities pull us in different directions. Im busy; Im too busy; Ive got no time... - the maxim of our era. So what are we teaching our children and youth when we have packed our North American lives to the point that we are forever running to the next item on the agenda? Have we taught them to savor, to listen, to simply be? “Just about any personality trait or skill can be learned: simply find it in someone you know and copy it. Then watch what happens.” (Steve Goodier) Any trait or skill can be learned - or taught. Our youth watch us at every moment, incorporating into their very malleable value systems the actions and attitudes that surround them. True - we teach them about commitment to our work, about perseverance, about giving back to the community; and this is desirable. Perhaps, though, we are also teaching them about burnout, about running helter-skelter; mentoring an ADHD lifestyle. It is entirely possible that our youth can only learn what we demonstrate... And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mark 6:31) Anna (my beloved) came back from Spain full of stories of a culture quite different from ours; a sense of community that was slower, that had learned to savor. The part of Spain she explored took time to eat slowly, to sip their wine, to indulge in an afternoon siesta. They understood something about just being with each other. We Canadians and Americans could learn from that - could awaken in our children and youth an appreciation for watching the sunset, the value of a meal that is tasted rather than inhaled; we could awaken within them a hunger for stillness. I have permanently inked on my wrist the words, Be still - not to celebrate my mastery of that command, but rather to remind me every day to take a deep breathe, to listen more than I speak, to savor life, and to quiet myself to hear Loves guiding and encouraging voice. I am often unsuccessful in this endeavor; sometimes, though, I do stop and just be. How good it is for the soul to follow Jesus into a desolate place and find a moment of rest. Lets awaken within our children and youth a hunger for stillness; lets show them what it looks like to treasure lifes work as well as lifes stillness. I leave the last word to the Psalmist: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord... (Psalm 127) Taking a deep breath with you, Pastor Bill Autumns leaves fall to the ground and sleep their wisdom knows when to release the branch spring will awaken them to become soil Winter though is for rest. Breathe Breathe Pray
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 18:23:09 +0000
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