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July 7, 2005
Doing My Little Part
A person can only take so much bad news before they either get really depressed or really angry. Thankfully Bella just woke up (she's asleep on my lap) and she tightly wrapped her arms around my neck and said. "I love you Mama, but I have to go to bafroom and you forgot my bweakfast." It's time to get to work and do my own little part in making the world a better place and building the Kingdom of Christ through work and prayer.
With that note - that our littleones can teach us so much - I leave with a post from Danielle Bean entitled "Practicing Her Faith".
Gabrielle might be only 2 years old, but the girl knows she is Catholic.When she enters a church, her demeanor becomes suddenly business-like. First things first: she finds the holy water fonts. Then she is systematic in her approach. Every holy water font in the church must be visited, after all. She balances precariously on teetering tiptoes, stretches one arm high above her head, and manages to dip the very tips of her chubby fingers into the water. She then makes an elaborate show of blessing herself, her naked dolly, her little brother, and any other person or object within reach. Then it’s on to the next font...
When the soaking…er, blessing is completed, she commences an elegant procession to the pew. This involves taking three or four steps at a time, pausing for dramatic effect, and then performing an elaborate bow, a curtsy, or a genuflection that lasts for several seconds. She then stands, takes another few steps, and kneels again. In this way, she calls attention to herself…er, recognizes Jesus’ presence in the tabernacle four or five times before we sit down.One recent Sunday morning, as I watched her predictable performance, I reflected on the fact that so far, Gabrielle’s religious devotion is entirely exterior. She makes all the right moves because she copies what she sees, but of course in her 2 year old mind there is little connection between these exterior actions and her relationship with God.
I wondered if perhaps even I do a similar thing. I may not genuflect every couple of paces, but maybe there are some parts of my spiritual life that have become little more than exterior practices, done more out of habit than devotion. For example, when we say grace before meals, do I make the sign of the cross with reverence? During bedtime prayers with the children, do I think about the words we are praying?
Gabrielle is 2 years old. What’s my excuse?
Posted by bobbi at July 7, 2005 8:07 AM
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