“HURRY UP AND SLOW DOWN”
The falling of a leaf caught my attention today as I stood under one of the many oak trees I planted in our yard back in 1982. It has held on tightly through the ice, snow and wind this winter and many of its siblings are still holding out for another day to gently land on Mother Earth. Their eventual fall will happen in time, patiently they wait for the right moment. It reminded me today how our Creator has so perfectly timed our life. How impatient we become when things aren’t moving at the fast pace we seem to demand in this life we are blessed with. Why are we so insistent on speed, what is the big hurry? Can you imagine what this world would be if our Creator was in such a hurry? Imagine the chaos if all the leaves from every tree fell at the same exact moment or if all the water for an annual rainfall came crashing down on Mother Earth in an instant. Instead of gently warming us with just the right amount of light the Sun unleashed all it had in seconds.
I remember times when I couldn’t wait until our kids were older or I was older. I became angered at the slow driver ahead of me in traffic or the slow moving line at the check out counter. Remember hearing “are we there yet?”
In the morning we can’t wait for the end of the day and on Monday we are anxious for the weekend. In winter we pray for spring and in the summer we plead for the coolness of fall. Twelve year olds fantasize for sixteen and at eighteen we want to be twenty-one.
“Building a life.” I haven’t heard the saying in a long time and I’m not sure it has much place any longer. “I want it now.” Is the new mind set.
When I told our three-year-old granddaughter Sydnie to hurry up the other day she looked up with her curious eyes and ask “Why?” It caught me by surprise and without any response I found myself slowing down a bit. What was the hurry? Really what terrible price would I pay if I just went at Sydnie’s pace. So Miss Teena, Sydnie and I went for a Sunday drive for a couple of hours. We drove out to Ted Turner’s buffalo ranch just outside of Hominy. We had a great time watching the Buffalo babies and looking for cows and horses. We just spent our time slowing down for her and the joy of living in the moment. What a treat, what a glorious blessing we shared. There are times when one needs to kick into second gear but it’s not as often as we seem to think.
We are given a very limited amount of time here on Mother Earth. This old oak tree is about in the middle of my season. There are still a few leaves on my branches and I’ve decided its best they not fall at once. I want them to gently fall to Mother Earth so my grandchildren can play in them scatter them fondly in their memories of Grandfather. Swing from my branches little ones, climb to the clouds, build your tree houses and have popcorn picnics in my shade. When the last leaf gently falls from this old oak celebrate the moment with the same joy that fills me every time I hear you call me “Grandfather.”
Sharing the Journey
Cha’