What Do I Miss?

We can keep ourselves so busy today - doing nothing much that matters.  Or we can be so busy running here and there that we don't even see what is before our eyes.  I have done both of these.  God gives us the gift of little children to help us slow down.  Have you ever taken a walk with a 3 year old?  They take life in and don't want to miss out on anything along the way.  So you stop and count the ants walking across the sidewalk or try to catch a butterfly.  But as they grow older they, too, get caught in the "busyness" of life.  Run to piano lessons, hurry to YW or YM activities, then off to a soccer game.  All good but what do we miss as we run so quickly?  As I have aged I just want to slow down.

Time

As I completed the artwork on this page, I realized the picture makes me nervous.  I think that's okay.  Life should make us a bit nervous as we have to confront the limitations of time and make some decisions.  Hopefully we will come to some understanding of what is unique about us and have a sense of purpose as we plan our minutes and hours and days.  Once we know that, we can relax and enjoy this time limited mortal journey that is preparing us for eternity.

Temporary Residents

We live in a time when the earth itself seems to lash out at us humans. Hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes have become common place.  Even the snow doesn’t seem to know how to behave.  Rain either comes in torrents or not at all.  Forest fires threaten us each new summer season.  All of these natural disasters stand as reminders that we must build a firm foundation for our lives.

My Quiet Place

I am retired now but I was blessed to teach elementary music.  When we did movement of any kind in the classroom the children needed a way to define their own space or else there were bumps and collisions.  We defined that space as a bubble and they were to make sure no one invaded.  The responsibility was put on each of them to protect that space.

Don't we have the same problem in life?  We have our own personal space and we create a climate that we enjoy there.  Yet we let other things invade and interrupt our peace.  It might be angry thoughts or it could be just trying to do too much in a given time period.  There is so much that can just take over and disrupt our lives.  So I think it nice to think about a protective bubble around us and to not let anything invade that takes away our peace.