Devotion from Pastor Barbara Caine of Holy Redeemer for October 29, 2020:
Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them; female and male, God made them…..God looked at all of this creation, and proclaimed that this was good—very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day. Genesis 1:27, 31 Inclusive Bible
“I’m bored,” my nephew said to my grandmother. An active, inventive, and, after a few hours at my grandmother’s home, restive, 7 year old, Brandon was tired of the talk-talk-talk of grownups. He wanted some action!
I’ll never forget my grandmother’s response. She had a way…. With her soft white hair and her sparkling eyes, she could capture your attention and hold your gaze like no one else I have ever known. It was love….
“Brandon?” His eyes widened as he turned to her and caught the full force of her loving gaze. She reached out and gently captured his grubby hands in hers. For a few moments she looked deep into his eyes with her endearing smile, then gently pulled him into her soft embrace — she gave the best hugs! — then stood him back so she could look him in the eye.
“Brandon, you have eyes, and ears, and a nose, and a mouth,” she took his hands again and turned them over, palm up, “and you can touch things. How could you be bored?” I watched his expression change to one of wonder. He looked at his palms, then he looked back at her, and he looked at the door. She nodded that, yes, he could go outside.
Awestruck, he went out the mobile home door, and began to explore the small row of flower pots along the railing, smelling the flowers, and touching the petals, obviously transfixed by new sight, new awareness. I met my grandmother’s eyes and they shined back at me. I realized that this woman, who had endured losing their ranch in Montana to locoweed, who had traveled alone with six children to Richmond, CA because my grandfather had found a job at Standard Oil, had suffered through the Depression, and rationing, and seen 4 sons in return from WWII, and eked out a living on a tiny Social Security check, knew a thing or two about how to take life as it comes, and how to find joy in it.
Yes, by God’s love and grace, we can find joy in the little things. It is not easy, but, with God’s help, it is possible.
In Christ,
Pastor Barbara
Photo by Johannes Krupinski on Unsplash