Children for a short time
16/10/20 00:41
As is the usual with me, the days are speeding on. Children’s Sabbath is just two days away. And, as is usual, I haven’t really prayed for all of the children of the world. I think of places where I know specific children such as Costa Rica, South Africa, and Australia. I haven’t told their stories or written specific prayers for those children. It is another thing about our faith that is important to remember. My prayers - the prayers of any individual - are always incomplete. We make a whole prayer by praying together. When my prayers are combined with the prayers of others it becomes a real prayer. God, of course, isn’t confused by many prayers. God hears the prayers of individuals and of groups. And, in the mystery workings of God’s creation, the prayers of this year’s vigil combine with all of the other prayers we have prayed and with the prayers of our future to become prayers for all of the children of the world.
In addition, my life continues to move into new adventures. Yesterday we covered 400 of the approximately 1200 miles of our move. The journey so far has gone very well. We have completed the only portion of our trip that involves traveling on 2 lane highways. From here on we will be in Interstate roads this trip. I was a bit worried that we might become an obstruction to travelers who wanted to go faster than us, but as it turned out, traffic was light and this was not the case. Instead, we found ourselves behind another U-Haul truck, this one towing a car, that was going about 5 mph slower than we wanted to go and who seemed to be a bit afraid of the curves, uphills and downhills of the trip. We reached the Interstate before we had been delayed much and all worked out well. From here on, we’ll have additional lanes for passing and will be able to travel at our own pace.
400 miles from Rapid City in the direction we are traveling means that I am back in my home town - the place where I grew up in the cabin by the river where my mother lived after our father’s death. It is a place that easily brings to mind stories of when I was a child growing up. My sister lives here now and being with her also prompts its share of stories of our past. One of our common lines of conversation sounds something like this: “Remember so and so? Whatever happened to her or him?” As we have grown older, our perspective has changed. We aren’t the oldest people in our hometown. There are a few folks of our parents generation, or a bit younger who are still older than we. But we are definitely among the elders of the community these days. Our peers are retired and settling into new roles. We found ourselves talking about a high school friend who stopped by, his health, his retirement plans and a bit about his family. We are all so much older than when we were children in this town together. A lot has happened in our lives. Some have seen trauma. Some have experienced great loss. A few have remained in the home town. Many have lived in distant places.
When you are a child, it seems like there is a huge difference between you and the adults in your life. They are so much older. They have so much more experience. Our teenage years were a time when the words “generation gap” were a part of newspaper articles and television commentaries. We were told by the media that we would never understand the ways of our seniors and they would never understand us. That, of course, was an exaggeration. We have our differences, but we are all in this together and we have far more in common than the things that separate us.
Children grow into adults. We all did. Some of us make huge mistakes. Some of us have had lives that have followed meaningful directions. It didn’t take us as long to grow up as it had seemed when we were children. As we pray for children these days, I am acutely aware that we are praying for a short amount of time. Being a child is a small slice of the human experience.
Our conversations got me to thinking about a few of the teachers in my life. When I was an elementary school student, it seemed that my teachers were all so very old. Looking back, I realize that I had a few teachers who were less than 20 years older than I. Others were a bit older than that, but not what I would today call “old.” As I grew and aged, my perspective changed.
The grade school I attended is still operating in the same building, with a few additions and changes. The playground is in the same place. Where we attended high school is now a pubic square, a place of gathering for the community. The “new” high school down by the football field has been there for so many years that you have to be an old timer not to think of it as where the high school has always been. There are plenty of folks in town who are seen as lone-time residents who don’t remember back to the years when we were kids. And I have not lived in this place for more than half a century. I can walk into any store in the town and I would be recognized as a stranger - a person from some other place. Yet this still feels like home to me.
Gracious God, how quickly the years pass! How short is the time of childhood for all of your children. Help us to see how precious are the prayers of this year - how quickly the children for whom we pray become adults and new children enter your world. May we appreciate the moments that we have been given and the precious children who will soon become adults. May all of the children of the world know your blessings and love these days. Amen.
In addition, my life continues to move into new adventures. Yesterday we covered 400 of the approximately 1200 miles of our move. The journey so far has gone very well. We have completed the only portion of our trip that involves traveling on 2 lane highways. From here on we will be in Interstate roads this trip. I was a bit worried that we might become an obstruction to travelers who wanted to go faster than us, but as it turned out, traffic was light and this was not the case. Instead, we found ourselves behind another U-Haul truck, this one towing a car, that was going about 5 mph slower than we wanted to go and who seemed to be a bit afraid of the curves, uphills and downhills of the trip. We reached the Interstate before we had been delayed much and all worked out well. From here on, we’ll have additional lanes for passing and will be able to travel at our own pace.
400 miles from Rapid City in the direction we are traveling means that I am back in my home town - the place where I grew up in the cabin by the river where my mother lived after our father’s death. It is a place that easily brings to mind stories of when I was a child growing up. My sister lives here now and being with her also prompts its share of stories of our past. One of our common lines of conversation sounds something like this: “Remember so and so? Whatever happened to her or him?” As we have grown older, our perspective has changed. We aren’t the oldest people in our hometown. There are a few folks of our parents generation, or a bit younger who are still older than we. But we are definitely among the elders of the community these days. Our peers are retired and settling into new roles. We found ourselves talking about a high school friend who stopped by, his health, his retirement plans and a bit about his family. We are all so much older than when we were children in this town together. A lot has happened in our lives. Some have seen trauma. Some have experienced great loss. A few have remained in the home town. Many have lived in distant places.
When you are a child, it seems like there is a huge difference between you and the adults in your life. They are so much older. They have so much more experience. Our teenage years were a time when the words “generation gap” were a part of newspaper articles and television commentaries. We were told by the media that we would never understand the ways of our seniors and they would never understand us. That, of course, was an exaggeration. We have our differences, but we are all in this together and we have far more in common than the things that separate us.
Children grow into adults. We all did. Some of us make huge mistakes. Some of us have had lives that have followed meaningful directions. It didn’t take us as long to grow up as it had seemed when we were children. As we pray for children these days, I am acutely aware that we are praying for a short amount of time. Being a child is a small slice of the human experience.
Our conversations got me to thinking about a few of the teachers in my life. When I was an elementary school student, it seemed that my teachers were all so very old. Looking back, I realize that I had a few teachers who were less than 20 years older than I. Others were a bit older than that, but not what I would today call “old.” As I grew and aged, my perspective changed.
The grade school I attended is still operating in the same building, with a few additions and changes. The playground is in the same place. Where we attended high school is now a pubic square, a place of gathering for the community. The “new” high school down by the football field has been there for so many years that you have to be an old timer not to think of it as where the high school has always been. There are plenty of folks in town who are seen as lone-time residents who don’t remember back to the years when we were kids. And I have not lived in this place for more than half a century. I can walk into any store in the town and I would be recognized as a stranger - a person from some other place. Yet this still feels like home to me.
Gracious God, how quickly the years pass! How short is the time of childhood for all of your children. Help us to see how precious are the prayers of this year - how quickly the children for whom we pray become adults and new children enter your world. May we appreciate the moments that we have been given and the precious children who will soon become adults. May all of the children of the world know your blessings and love these days. Amen.
