The Other Side of Will: Lessons My Grandson Taught Me; Part 6

Friday, 21 April 2017

Lessons My Grandson Taught Me; Part 6

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.