Held, Passed By, Sat With

January 9, 2020

A GIFT HELD, PASSED BY, SAT WITH

I’m taking these in reverse order. This morning I sat with three other men around a table, praying. That’s all we do. Starting with a psalm to help us focus, we simply pray for an hour, ending with the Lord’s Prayer and the singing of a hymn. We’re on our second round of psalms, which with the few Thursdays we haven’t met, means we’ve been at this for more than three years. There’s no lesson, very little banter; just prayer. Sitting with these guys has become a highlight of my week, a priority I seldom miss, and for which I am deeply grateful.

Leaving our prayer group, as I walked out the front door, a young father was dropping off his son for the Wrap, our church’s before-school program that provides a safe place for elementary children when their parents have to be at work early. The man’s son looked to be four or five, and as his father helped him down from the cab of his truck, he talked calmly and steadily to the boy. His last words as his son turned to go into the church were, “Remember! Be the engine, not the caboose.” I caught those words as I passed by, and have held onto them all day long. It’s great advice, not only for a boy, but for me, too. It is all too easy to let other people or the circumstances of life be the engine that drives our existence, while we trail along like obedient cabooses, going wherever that engine leads. And if not others, we allow our emotions, perceived insults or slights, or even some online post from someone we’ve never met, determine our happiness and sense of well-being.

I’m hanging onto those words. They are life-affirming, and we can never get enough of that.