A speck of dust and a child’s play
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.” Matthew 7:1-5
On Wednesday evening we host a Bible study in our home attended by a group of friends. This past week one of our friends brought a three-year old they were watching. The evening was a joy and a blessing as between learning from Ezekiel and each other we all enjoyed the company and the laughter of the very bright and inquisitive thee-year old child.
Later as the weekly cleaning schedule came due I realized that near one unlit candle where the child played rested specks of sand and dirt blown in from our unfinished back yard.
It was then that I grew to appreciate the child like perspective that ignored the specks of dirt and saw only the color and enjoyment found in a sandal shaped candle…
Too often I see the speck of dust and fail to see through the eyes of joy and thankfulness the wonders surrounding me. Too often the pressures of lists, tasks, appointments, and unfinished business push out the joy of living and time for giving and caring fully. And too often that notion of perfectionism hinders me from seeing myself and others in the soft light of full reality.
Sometimes we are too busy doing to appreciate the giving and sharing of each other. We grow so busy that we fail to be truly thankful and our little light of joy diminishes.
The gift of the moment passes by, the clicking of the clock resounds ever so loudly, and the regrets of yesterday haunt our today’s. In the rush of today are we truly living? Are not the faults of others really a speck when we compare them with our own? And isn’t life more enjoyable when like a child we simply enjoy the way others are instead of critically wanting them to change?
On Wednesday evening we host a Bible study in our home attended by a group of friends. This past week one of our friends brought a three-year old they were watching. The evening was a joy and a blessing as between learning from Ezekiel and each other we all enjoyed the company and the laughter of the very bright and inquisitive thee-year old child.
Later as the weekly cleaning schedule came due I realized that near one unlit candle where the child played rested specks of sand and dirt blown in from our unfinished back yard.
It was then that I grew to appreciate the child like perspective that ignored the specks of dirt and saw only the color and enjoyment found in a sandal shaped candle…
Too often I see the speck of dust and fail to see through the eyes of joy and thankfulness the wonders surrounding me. Too often the pressures of lists, tasks, appointments, and unfinished business push out the joy of living and time for giving and caring fully. And too often that notion of perfectionism hinders me from seeing myself and others in the soft light of full reality.
Sometimes we are too busy doing to appreciate the giving and sharing of each other. We grow so busy that we fail to be truly thankful and our little light of joy diminishes.
The gift of the moment passes by, the clicking of the clock resounds ever so loudly, and the regrets of yesterday haunt our today’s. In the rush of today are we truly living? Are not the faults of others really a speck when we compare them with our own? And isn’t life more enjoyable when like a child we simply enjoy the way others are instead of critically wanting them to change?
posted by Michael Byrd at 5:07 AM
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