Pausing...in a way

I love a story told well.  Shakespeare, Dickens, Goethe, Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson, Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes.  Words and wonder, tumult, trouble, victory, great adventure.  All in the name of writing.  I think a key to good writing is observation.  What do I see?  What do I hear?  What is funny?  What is charming?  What delights me?  There is so much to see in this world and the next.  So many people to encounter, so many stories to observe.  And, if worth the time, those wondrous stories to record for posterity, even if they are only snippets in time, a brief reflection on a delightful moment:

Saturday when my nephew raced boats with his Cub Scout friends.  Afterward they dined that great delicacy of hot dogs, along with apples, celery, carrots, oranges, jello, and worms of gelatin and sugar.  My niece, aged 3, plopped an entire orange section in her mouth.  Quite a feat for her tiny chompers.  I suggested she take smaller bites when she proceeded to assume a staunch position, setting her jaw and pursing her lips:  “Mimi,” she said quite seriously, “if I bite the orange in two, it drips down my chin and on my clothes.”  Hard to argue with her logic, and most definitely humorous.

There is much to observe here.  Green grass.  Fields freshly planted.  Peonies perfuming the air.  Blue buntings, doves, robins, rabbits, and ground squirrels.  All delights for Mom’s rat terrier to chase.  The wind whips through this plain with vigor.  Just as well, for it keeps the bugs moving onward, preventing them from munching on me for their morning snack.  It is a warm day, feels more like spring now.  Many of these May days seemed to have an identity crisis, only getting into the 50s and low 60s.  I had to pull out cozy sweaters, drink hot tea, and turn the furnace on again.  I love the ups and downs and unpredictability of the weather…most of the time.  Then, there are those moments when I would love to look out on the ocean and smell the salty breeze.  Alas, no.  I am here, and that will do for now.

This time has moved slowly in many ways.  My brain has not worked well since the accident, over a year ago.  It has made me pause in a rather busy life.  It has provided a time to be here where it is quieter, and I like that…most days.  I love that I get to spend time with my family, watch my nieces and nephew grow up, delight in the free entertainment they provide on a continual basis.  Pause is good.  And so is stillness.  But I don’t always want to be in pause mode.  I am seeing improvements in the brain, needing fewer supplements to be out in public.  I can concentrate for a longer period of time without headache or eye strain.  All good things.  Still, a few things need to be put in order up there so that I can move and circulate in a hustling and bustling world, write, remember, be able to critical think for more than a short time, be on airplanes, speak to large crowds.  And so I do what I can, and I wait.

Yes, there is great improvement, and I am thankful for that.  Still, it seems there are miles to go.  With feeling somewhat better, my hope is renewed.  I want to work and travel and help people.  I want to speak into people’s lives and do great things.  It is in these moments that I must remember that great things often look small on a world stage.  Sometimes we feel small in a world gone mad.  But we and everything we do is significant because we and everyone we meet are significant.  We each have a purpose, something we are designed to do, something that only each of us can do.  It may seem strange, but it’s true.  You and I have a purpose for which we were built, tasks to accomplish, a message of reconciliation to share.  We are to be salt and light, crashing into darkness, exposing the lies of the enemy.  What a great message to share.  What a great call to have.  It starts with our families, our neighbors, work colleagues, friends.  We each have a sphere of influence, people specifically placed in our lives.  I want to be salt and light to the people around me.  I want people to know how great Jesus is and what He can do and will do today in and through us.  Whether I am here “pausing” or out there in go mode.  What about you?