Weekend Words

 From Amish Peace... (and you are getting two that I read this week, because I like them both and couldn't choose)

Artwork: A Cottage Flower Garden - Arthur Wilkinson

Contentment

True godliness with contentment is itself great worth. - 1 Timothy 6:6

When I was growing up, a perfect summer day meant riding my bicycle to the library.  I would also set up a 'house' for my dolls under the tall bushes near the back fence.  There were trips to the lake, where I'd float on my back and stare up at the blue sky.  There were no video games in the 1970s.  No malls near me.  No all-day cartoons to keep me entertained, and yet life was good.  The same can be said of an Amish childhood.

These children's days are not given shape by a line up of soccer games, piano lessons, camp, or play groups.  Instead, the morning sun, chore-time twice a day, and the coming of evening set a structure for their time.  So, too, do the days of the week and the seasons.  In this largely rural, soil-anchored world, life follows the lead of the weather and the promise of productive fields and gardens.  The children are not removed from this daily interplay with nature.  They learn it, they begin to sense it and read it alongside their parents, who interpret what is happening while they go about their jobs, who point out the signals as they come, who invite their children to join them in responsive work.

Not dulled by television or computers, not distracted by telephones, these children grow up to be keenly alert both to the natural environment and to the interests of their church community.  They are fully occupied but not frenzied.  They learn a contentment still available to those who focus their energies on the earth and its requirements, who devote themselves to giving and receiving from others.

When you were growing up, where did you find the most contentment?  Has your life grown easier or better from all the wonderful things you added?  Or do you sometimes realize that more is really less?

With God, it's possible to be content wherever we are, with whatever we have.  Sometimes it takes looking back at our childhood to realize that simpler is better - for ourselves, our children, and our whole lives.

Artwork: An Orchard in Spring Time - Basil Bradley

Quest towards Quietness

Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind. - Ecclesiastes 4:6

Amish have been referred to as 'the quiet in the land".  Their refusal to rely on modern conveniences such as radios, televisions, and various appliances prevent a great deal of noise in their lives.  But the Amish also have quiet hearts and minds.

Advertisers spend billions of dollars to send thousand of messages into our minds every day.  The internet connects us with an endless stream of friends and associates who have something to say.  There is an increasing flood of information, facts, and advice.  We get tired of sorting through it all.  We pay big money to go on summer vacation.  To get away.  To find quiet.

Is it possible to discover quietness in our everyday lives, too?  To work less, not more?  To turn off electronics and listen to the still, small voice of God's Spirit?  Better to have one handful with quietness...

It's up to us to stop chasing the wind.  To say no to more commitments and yes to more peace.  But we can't do it on our own.  Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28 ESV).  He knows the realities of this world are too hard to face if our minds are too full and our backs are too burdened.  We must turn to Him. (And being attentive to Him may mean turning off a few electronics.)  We must confess that we are trying to do too much and ask Jesus to take our burdens.

Sometimes God answers us by giving us strength.  But sometimes He answers us by asking us to lay down burdens He never asked us to carry in the first place.  Will you hand over those burdens today?

Artwork: Flitwick - Henry John Sylvester Stannard