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One of the things I admire about Jesus, based on the stories we have, is his ability to be in the moment. It seems as though whoever he was dealing with, whatever the interaction, that person felt in that moment as though they were the most important person in his life. He would be in the middle of something and a messenger would come with some dire news. There is not one account of him dropping everything to go take care of something else. Even when the news is of a friend's impending death, he takes care of business before moving out.
My life right now is chaos. Well, not as chaotic as it has been at other times, but busy enough that I'm tied to my calendar again. When I'm working on one thing I'm thinking about another. I have a terrible time being in the moment. People can tell when you're speaking with them if your mind is someplace else. Being in the moment is a skill/quality I want to cultivate. I want people to know how much I value them and our interaction. It's something I'm going to have to work on. God of love, our lives are important to you. The lives of others are important to us, but sometimes we become so busy that we fail to let them know that. Computers, phones, televisions intrude on our space. Requests for our time and events pile up on top of each other. Sometimes we need to re-learn the value of saying "no". Always we need to remember that whatever is going on with the person with whom we are conversing is important enough to them that they are sharing it with us. Help us to treat those interactions, and the people involved, with the care and respect they deserve............ "And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’"
Sometime this summer we will sell my parents' house. They have lived there since 1968. My dad was in the Air Force, so we moved a fair amount before they settled into this house. None of us expected they would live there for 40+ years, but they did. Since I left their house I have been a vagabond, but always had that house to anchor me. "Where are you from?" was always a tough question to answer, but I could confidently say, "My parents live outside of Dayton, Ohio" and that would normally satisfy the questioner. Now, there will be no anchor, no sense of place that is mine. I feel more deeply for the problem my children have with this issue. Scholars say it is possible that Jesus had a house in Capernaum for at least part of his ministry, but for the most part he was itinerant. I think that may be a part of why he spent time alone and away from the rest of the people now and then: he needed a grounding. He had no grounding of place, which meant his grounding in God became more important. Somehow it gives me comfort to know that even in this, Jesus has walked this lonesome valley before me. Loving God, we thank you that whatever trial or tribulation we must face has already been faced by you. We thank you that you go before us to lower the mountains, raise the valleys, and make the paths straight. We thank you that you go with us so that we do not have to cope with struggle on our own. And we thank you that you bring us to the other side and help us find not only our rest in you, but our joy of living once again.................. |
AuthorOrrinda Stockton Archives
August 2023
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