I have a love-hate relationship with preparing. I love to prepare; I hate figuring out how to time the preparation. It's possible that I may even have a reputation for procrastination. This is a questionable trait to have had during my years as both a student and a teacher. I was going to post a picture of luggage because the year I went with family members to Italy, I waited until 2 am in the morning before packing. I can not even tell you what possessed me to wait that long. I started in what seemed like plenty of time -- I think I just have an issue with time itself. My granddaughters will fare better than I. The older one is excellent with math and numbers; the younger one is already exhibiting skill at pacing out when actions need to be accomplished. She gave a speech about our tradition of moving Mary and Joseph from the back of the house to the Bethlehem fireplace mantle. She told her classmates on day five of the journey that she needed to make 19 more moves. We seem to prepare well for this tradition. Perhaps the repetition of the tradition helps! In the picture below, you see that we have the stable (granted, it is a stable and not a grotto) set up and prepared for the arrival of the holy couple.
The animals peacefully await. The shepherds will wait with the lambs in green pastures (also known as a side table and green placemat). The red push pin will enable the angel to hover over the entire creche scene. All very lovely. No apparent chaos. The picture below shows what it might have looked like if I had been in charge.
Yes, friends and strangers, I took this small group on the train to Los Angeles Central Station (and forgot to plan for eating lunch on the train) where we jumped on the FlyAway bus to get to LAX airport where we slept on the floor until it was time to get on our flight to Russia (or maybe this was the on the return home). To prepare is a good activity.
Nonetheless, not everything in life can be prepared for. There have been plenty of situations while flying that I could not prepare for and they had nothing to do with my own personal flaws. A computer which broke down on a plane. A rare occurrence of ice in San Diego which grounded my plane! A flight attendant who didn't show up to work.
Also, natural disasters occur. During 2017, many have lost their homes to fires. One does their best to prepare, but one's best isn't always enough to hold back fire. Sometimes it is something medical that catches us by surprise. While I can't always be materially prepared, I have learned to prepare in other ways.
I can prepare to be peace-filled and patient by learning and practicing to slow down my steps before chaos hits. I can prepare to be kind, gentle, loving, content, gracious, innovative, creative, and unafraid by practicing in small ways before disaster comes. Couldn't it be the repetition of small practices on a daily basis that is really the beauty of this Advent word: prepare?
May we be prepared this season to see, receive, and give the love, hope, joy, and peace of Christ. Then, even if our preparations in other endeavors run into complications, it will be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. (Julian of Norwich).
The animals peacefully await. The shepherds will wait with the lambs in green pastures (also known as a side table and green placemat). The red push pin will enable the angel to hover over the entire creche scene. All very lovely. No apparent chaos. The picture below shows what it might have looked like if I had been in charge.
Yes, friends and strangers, I took this small group on the train to Los Angeles Central Station (and forgot to plan for eating lunch on the train) where we jumped on the FlyAway bus to get to LAX airport where we slept on the floor until it was time to get on our flight to Russia (or maybe this was the on the return home). To prepare is a good activity.
Nonetheless, not everything in life can be prepared for. There have been plenty of situations while flying that I could not prepare for and they had nothing to do with my own personal flaws. A computer which broke down on a plane. A rare occurrence of ice in San Diego which grounded my plane! A flight attendant who didn't show up to work.
Also, natural disasters occur. During 2017, many have lost their homes to fires. One does their best to prepare, but one's best isn't always enough to hold back fire. Sometimes it is something medical that catches us by surprise. While I can't always be materially prepared, I have learned to prepare in other ways.
I can prepare to be peace-filled and patient by learning and practicing to slow down my steps before chaos hits. I can prepare to be kind, gentle, loving, content, gracious, innovative, creative, and unafraid by practicing in small ways before disaster comes. Couldn't it be the repetition of small practices on a daily basis that is really the beauty of this Advent word: prepare?
May we be prepared this season to see, receive, and give the love, hope, joy, and peace of Christ. Then, even if our preparations in other endeavors run into complications, it will be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. (Julian of Norwich).
No comments:
Post a Comment