So, though we have long since stopped attending a
traditional institutional church in favour of a more organic form of Christian
fellowship, on Easter Sunday of this year my wife was invited by my daughter
and son-in-law to join them at their church for Sunday services. (I was invited
too, but chose the quiet solitude of an empty house instead).
Having said that, this week my grandson taught my wife a few
lessons, and me as well through my wife, since I wasn’t personally there to
learn them first hand from my grandson. This was a decision on my part that I have since
lamented.
First of all, a caveat is in order. The theme of the Sunday
service was one of “New Life.” For
those of you not familiar with the true Easter story, I’d suggest you polish up
a bit on your Christianity 101 by reading the New Testament account of the
first Easter, such as recorded in Matthew chapters 27 and 28.
This Easter Sunday my grandson was just past his 10-week
birthday, and he had a huge lesson in store for his Nana, and by extension,
Opa. The Easter promise of hope and peace rang out loud and clear throughout
the service, as my grandson moved and danced to the lights and music of the
event, apparently not wanting to miss anything. As my wife held him, she
couldn’t help but also become engrossed in his enthusiastic passion and
excitement to be there with the rest of the church community, celebrating
Easter. Did he already get the gist of what some have said is the most holy day
in the Christian calendar? Maybe he did. After all, as Jesus himself once said,
“I tell you the truth, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew 18:3).
The lesson our grandson taught us is that we need to
celebrate “new life,” not just on
Easter Sunday, but every day. For him, everyday is a new day, and every day is a
day to smile and bounce around in a joyful expectation, glad to be alive. For
those of us who have lived a little longer than my grandson, the same is also still
true (or it ought to be). Unfortunately, we too often allow the pressures and
stresses of life to keep us from smiling and bouncing around in a joyful and
hopeful expectation. Somehow, we have to find a way to get past that lethargy. Everyday
is a new day, a day gifted to us from God. How will we respond to it? If you
still don’t know, look at a small child; they’ll teach you.
I’m really making a concerted effort this year to especially learn this lesson my grandson taught me, and to look at the world through his eyes. “Look, Opa! See, Nana! Isn’t that awesome?
Wow! Wow!”
It really does take a grandchild to screw our heads back on straight. Can you see the wonder through their eyes? I hope that you can, or at the very least, that you’re open to learning. Peace and blessings.
It really does take a grandchild to screw our heads back on straight. Can you see the wonder through their eyes? I hope that you can, or at the very least, that you’re open to learning. Peace and blessings.
and it has just begun. Enjoy the ride and the blessing
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