Pastoral Thought--September 8

 It has been a wonderful joy to watch the children return to the Cranberry Nursery School today. I knew that I missed the ambient noise from their lessons, but I did not know how much I missed the children of CNS. They brighten my day with their smiles and with their presence. Over the summer I ‘broke the silence’ with background music from various Disney Parks. But that is not necessary today. Now the kids are back and the noise is back and I want to share a little of my morning with you. . . 

A little past 9am the children began to enter the school again. One by one, and family by family, the kids gathered outside the building. Hand sanitizer and small masks were the order of the day. The “first day of school” outfits had been picked and lived up to expectation. 

Backpacks that look too large for little children were hung on hooks each bearing the name of the child. Most of the bags were adorned with little things that mom and dad hoped would keep the kids safe and make them smile as they began the process of education once again. Little keychains or small tokens, small furry cases with lotion or sanitizer in them, and small jackets, I saw them all. 

Some of the children remembered me from our story time last year and some faces were new to me. Mr. Rich’s "Thumbs Up" was given and kids waved as they walked around the hallways and said ‘good morning Rev. Derek' to me. Anxious teachers and aids were gone. In their place was confident, gifted, leaders and teachers who were presented to care for the kids and help them transition.

Downstairs the parents enjoyed little snacks and coffee that Roberta, Amy and the rest of the Board gathered for them. (Oh, and the pumpkin bread was great!) I saw little children, children who were too young for pre-school, walk outside around the fellowship hall. The parents joked with one another and radiated God’s peace and joy because they were able again to do that one of the things that they missed most—socialize in public with one another. 

Even as my knee became so sore from walking around the building, I felt a sense of thanksgiving in my heart that I wondered where you felt that same feeling in your day? 

Meister Eckhart once said: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”

For over a year and a half now, I have returned to this theme in these thoughts. It is the theme of thanksgiving and joy. Whether cases rise or fall, and regardless of where our anxiety lives in our personal lives, can we find time to stop and say "thank you” to God? 

As I watched the kids come into the school for the afternoon sessions it was very quiet. The anxiety, and tears of the morning, were gone. I heard no little saints crying down the hall from me Liikely that will happen next week when they return full time to school). Again, it felt like God was both here and with the children at the same time. But like I said, and like Echkart would affirm, “Can we find time today to stop, and thank God? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek