Pastoral Thought--July 27

 Because of some commitments that I have this evening, I was confronted with a choice. While I would like to think that my choice was deep and complicated, that it contained a great deal of nuance to it that required me to reflect at length, the fact is that it did not. My choice was: be helpful in an unexpected way or let things progress as they do. Here is what I mean. . . 

This morning Jennifer wondered if we needed to cut the grass. Our yard is long and it needs to be cut so that we don’t have to "bail it." We normally do that over the weekend, but because we a guest at the house, we didn’t. So today she asked me to have the lawn tractor filled with gas and ready for her when she got home around 6pm. The plan was to eat dinner quickly and then spend the next 2 hours doing yard work. Simple enough, right?

Well, as I sit here and write the temperature outside is 88 degrees. The heat index makes it feel like it is 91 outside. That’s real hot and real uncomfortable. As the sun set across our yard there is no shade after lunch until sunset. So we had an evening of ‘baking’ ahead of us. Not to worry, Emma would be instructed to ‘water us’ at regular intervals—which she’s good at. We would be fine, just a little tired, hot, and likely sunburned. 

So I had a choice—one that I suspect that you are aware that I could make. Do I cut the grass this morning alone to spare my wife and I from suffering in the heat? Or do my regular daily commitments take prescience? 

As Jennifer rolled into the house at 1:30 for lunch she saw that I cut the grass and smiled. I didn’t tell her that I was doing it. She sighed in relief. Like I said, it was going to be a real hot evening for us. Walking back to the church after she left, I felt blessed. I made a choice to help someone, to lighten their load a bit, and it helped. This was a minor choice, but one that demonstrated that when I had the choice to care for someone else, I choose to care. I chose to re-orient my day in order to help someone else. 

I wonder, when was the last time that you had the chance to care for someone like that? When did you change the arch of your day in order to serve someone else? And of course, how did it feel to bless them? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek