BREAD OF LIFE

Europe was overwhelmed with hungry, homeless, orphaned children after WWII.  Large camps were created to house and feed the children, but the caregivers noticed that they were anxious and fearful which resulted in sleepless nights.  Finally, a psychologist resolved the issue by instructing the caregivers to give each child a piece of bread after they were put to bed.  The bread was NOT placed in their mouth, but in their hand and the results were astounding!

The children slept all through the night because the bread gave them a sense of security (they were safe), significance (somebody cared), and satisfaction (there was bread for tomorrow).  We need these things also and Jesus has proclaimed that he is the “Bread of Life” who satisfies the spiritual hunger of the human heart and the eternal hunger of the human soul.

THE INDULGENCE OF A RAINY MORNING

Rain Drops on Spring Lilacs, Jamestown, NC

SIMPLE PLEASURES

Awakening early this morning to the sound of rain drops on the bedroom windows and water rushing through downspouts, I realized that this simple pleasure is quite possibly the most rewarding of all in retirement.  Like most life experiences, the level of satisfaction can only be relevant when compared to other similar memories, both positive and negative.  One positive thought could harken back to our first awakening in the womb to the soothing sound of amniotic fluids surrounding our developing bodies.

I’ve worked all of my adult life up to the day when I was old enough to have accumulated enough retirement income, in addition to affordable health insurance so that one critical illness would not consume it all.  And there was never a more difficult time to rise and shine than early on a work week Monday morning with the same familiar sound of rain drops on rooftops.  It’s a siren song of nature that is luring you back into a deep nirvana slumber like no other.  But I had a mortgage and bills to pay, a family to support and associates at work that depended on my presence or possibly a 6:00 AM plane to catch.   So I rose, showered, woofed down a quick bowl of cereal, inhaled a warm cup of coffee and trudged out of the comfort of home under the dismal spring rain clouds singing “I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go!” to the synchronic rhythm of the windshield wipers.

But the spring rain this morning gave me pause to reflect on those days and appreciate the simple indulgence of turning over for a few more minutes in a semi-conscious state to soak in the soothing chorus of the rain on the roof.  And then rising to an unhurried morning with no entries on my planner that required my presence.  But it really was those hurried days of yesteryear that ultimately gave me the acute appreciation of such a simple pleasure that was beyond measure this morning.

WINDOW-ON-THE-WORLD

Moving Van, Chicago, IL

While staying with my one-year old grandson during the day recently, I realized how out of touch I had become when it comes to having the curiosity and imagination of a child.  Jesus remarked in Matthew 18:3-4 “Truly I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  We adults have lived long enough to have accumulated and be blinded by all the biases and lenses through which we filter the world around us.  It was a renewal of spirit to once again see the world through the lens of a little child.

We literally spent off and on hours with two cut-out books that had successively larger holes for truck wheels and fish.  The Zoom truck book has already received so much attention that the spine has separated from its moorings.  But that wasn’t a result of repeated readings.  No, this spineless book has been through an unlimited number of passing’s of small trucks through the one page where cutout wheels are big enough for the drill.  Of course, that’s not the book’s intended purpose, but one that has already claimed its destiny in this life.

And just when you think that the game is over, a screeching ambulance, a large white delivery truck, a noisy sports car, or a bright yellow school bus interrupts the silence of the third-floor unit in the Chicago Greystone and we rush to our window-on-the-world just in time to catch a glimpse of the passing vehicle below amid the wondrous verbalizing of the language of a young child’s “Oooooooo’s”.  That reality sparks renewed interest in once again passing the miniature trucks through the magical portals to a new dimension!  These traits will serve him well as his window-on-the-world begins to expand exponentially.

Soon a moving van realizes that it has just entered a one-way street going the wrong way.  So, it turns into the alley below and maneuvers around as electronic back up signals sound the alarm.  The urgent sound immediately brings us back to the window sill so that the entire episode can be absorbed.  And then just as the street traffic seems to settle down, a city trash truck can be heard digesting the cast-off waste of the big city dwellers before it continues on its never-ending mission to our eternal childlike delight.