Creating opportunities for gratitude
Romans 1:18-23
BY NANCY WEBB
Young children are naturally gifted with fabulous imaginations. It?s great fun for adults to be nearby but not directly involved when children are into their own little drama. Children playing alone, or with two or three little friends, can create very elaborate scenes in which they become deeply involved.
The dress-up component adds keenly to any scene. Simply putting on a faux bejeweled crown, a firefighter?s helmet, a police officer?s hat, a nurse?s cap, or a construction worker?s hard hat can suddenly bring out the personality that each uniform represents.
Small actors begin to walk and talk like the people they are representing. 'Aren?t I gorgeous?' or 'Slide down this slide away from the fire! I?ll catch you,' or 'Stop! In the name of the law, stop!' or 'This needle won?t really hurt,' or 'Beep! Beep! Beep! I?m backing up!'
As children grow to be teens, they assert more and more independence in choosing their own role models. Throughout their childhood and to their present ages, they may have had excellent examples of how to live a whole, just and gracious life from parents, guardians, grandparents, church school teachers, youth group leaders, teachers and pastors. At this time in their lives, however, appreciation for all of that is low on their list of what?s important.
They know better. They know all those people who have contributed to their lives thus far, but they feel the need to be wise on their own, and they often fail to give thanks and show appreciation to those who have nurtured them.
Don?t you just hate a smart aleck? As Saint Paul says, they claim to be wise, and by doing so, become foolish. Children and youth are not the only people who engage in this sort of behavior.
Many of us adults know a great deal about God, though we can never know all there is to know. We?ve studied the Ten Commandments and the two greatest commandments, which, according to Jesus, are found in Mark 12:30-31: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And ? You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
We may have a pretty good idea of who God is. But too many of us are not grateful that 'We?ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord,' in the words of a gospel song in the African-American tradition.
O God, in this Lenten season, grant us an extra measure of your Spirit and excellent models of the gratitude and humility we are called to emulate in your name. Amen!
The Rev. Nancy Webb is associate pastor at Grace UMC in Baltimore.
A DEVOTIONAL
for the Discipleship Adventure
Connect: Seek out someone who has helped strengthen your faith, perhaps as a model of faith for you. Share with that person how she or he has helped you understand God and see 'invisible things.'
Develop: What favorite hat did you like to wear when pretending as a child? What imaginary hat do you wear today in playing your roles in life as a Christian? Think about some new hat you?d like to put on as you grow in your own Discipleship Adventure, and take one step each day or each week toward wearing that hat as your own.
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