A Lesson Learned: by Robin Thomas
I love traffic, said no one ever, but during this time when the roads are barren because of mandatory lockdowns, I would love traffic. I would love to be in traffic going somewhere, almost anywhere.
Isn’t it funny how we don’t appreciate things until we don’t have them?
Why is that? We don’t appreciate the NOW.
Jesus taught the disciples to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11)
Today. That is a concept we are slowly becoming aware of in our shelter in place. The days are all running together and we are confronted with the NOW. I can’t plan three weeks in advance because no one is taking appointments, or making plans due to uncertainty, so what can I do NOW?
I think we Americans are very comfortable with the idea of planning for our future but not as comfortable with the NOW.
When teens enter High School they are immediately hit with the question, “Where are you going to college?” or “Are you going to take AP classes so that you can get into a better college?” They are thrust into a stress inducing whirlwind to plan for their future when they aren’t even sure of their NOW.
Funny, Jesus didn’t say, “Give us today enough bread to last for the week.”
Do I think we shouldn’t be prudent and plan for our futures? Of course not, but I do think that there is a lesson to be learned here. What is eternal? When you look back at your life what do your memories reveal?
Ironically, our future has no bearing on our eternity.
Our future ends at the grave, the NOW is eternal.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." Matthew 6: 19-20
Jews defined storing up treasure in heaven as deeds of mercy and deeds of kindness to people in distress.
This whole “shelter in place” order, or forced NOW, has families walking together, playing games, working on jigsaw puzzles, making up silly things to post on their social media accounts. They are working in the garden and are actually making memories together. When we look back on this time we will not remember how bored or inconvenienced we were, but we will remember how people created ZOOM concerts, or crazy family games. We will remember the joy we felt when the dad finally had time to work on that motorcycle with his son, or how the kids learned to sew. We will remember shopping at 5:40am to get toilet paper, or sharing food because someone was out. Being truly present in the NOW makes memories for eternity.
"They may forget what you said - but they will never forget how you made them feel." -Carl W. Buehner
So watch that movie with your kids, or play that card game. Write some letters to people, text someone, do something NOW that will be eternal.
Take the time to write down your family history and stories.
We can’t go out and touch people with our hands but we can touch them with our words.
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