Did you see this the other night? I hadn't planned to stay up to see the total eclipse, but once I peeked out I couldn't resist bundling up and trudging off to the park to get a better view (and some pictures to share with the kids).
I couldn't help but wonder what people in the distant past thought was happening when the moon turned a threatening shade of red... or how wild nocturnal animals respond to the spectacle. I thought about how people all over the city--all over the world--were also staring up at the moon in expectation. I thought about how slowly the mystery unfolded in contrast to the constant stream of information input I normally subject myself to.
I need to slow down. Here's the thing: for me, I wouldn't want to do anything other than stay home with my kids while they are young. At the same time, I think any stay-at-home parent would have to admit that it isn't incredibly intellectually stimulating (at least in a small family!), so I find myself constantly seeking that engagement... through the radio, books, the internet (oh! the internet!), brain puzzles.
But I'm realizing that I need to make time also for more quiet in my mind, my heart, my spirit, my body. I have always believed that it is good for kids to be bored sometimes, that it provides opportunities for creativity, contemplation, imagination... but I have robbed myself of those same opportunities because I have the ability to avoid boredom.
The admonishment to "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) makes more sense than ever in the information age. The Message paraphrase puts an even finer point on it: "Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything."
It's time for me to simplify again, to find time for the equivalent of cloud-watching in my winter life. And I think that means cutting down on the time I spend plugged in to the information grid for a little while.
Do any of you struggle to simplify? How have you made time to be still during the day?
1 comment:
I was thinking some of the same stuff while I was watching the eclipse the other night. Very cool to read it in your post. I too wandered what they thought long ago. Jason and I were discussing this when we went to bed and thought that they probably thought God was angry or something. Fortunately for us no bundling up was required. We have the perfect space for viewing these types of things.
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