Howdy,
Over breakfast yesterday morning my wife Sarah held an Advent devotional with the boys, which they really take to, because Jasper and Titus both soak in stories of any kind and always take to the attention they get while being recipients of a read aloud.
For a youngster Jasper is quite spiritually aware, a neat thing to see, to say the least. “Neat”? — THE BEST! An ultimate blessing. His insights are worth catching.
Jasper’s also full of active questions, and Ti is full of active. And questions, too! (We’ll talk more about Jasper here in the following, but you can be sure Ti’s tap dancing in the background.)
They also snap up that attention in a twist that’s something less pleasant for parents or good for themselves.
Such lively engagement from the boys is, then, a double-edged sword. Of course it’s so good to see their interested engagement — their mother is a college professor of reading, after all, and such wrestling and excitement with text is a special thing she works for in the classroom with students — but with our boys it can crumble into over-the-top interruption, too many storytellers in the kitchen (not a mixed metaphor! It’s over breakfast, remember), halting a story or lesson like bay area bumper-to-bumper.
Taking a crack at helping bring back the romanticized, nostalgized, calm of children’s devotions, I asked Jasper to be “curious but not impatient.” Asking him to not be ahead of the story or the sharing or to guess what’s next if not trying to tell what’s next. Not to beat a two-year-old brother to the punch.
To Listen. Look. Learn.
To Wait. See.
Reflecting on those notions swept my mind over an act, a character, a name: Simeon.
Simeon held onto great curiosity, enough to keep his eyes open and searching, with a patience that keep him onsite to see.
And looking Simeon up in Scripture, also to be found is Anna. She showed patience devout.
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.’
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many … so that thoughts from many hearts my be revealed.’
And there was a prophetess, Anna … She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:25-38).
Worth the wait.
Look at, Behold, the next two verses: “And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.”
Stay curious, boys, curious but not impatient.
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
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