Sunday afternoons often bring back memories of “Then“.
Being a preacher’s child in the 60’s was not an easy mold to fill. This gal, had an especially tough struggle, being strong willed and all.
In those “good old days” it was important to make a Godly impression.
First and foremost because God requires it, but also and as an aside, the church folk were watching.
Oh the burden upon God’s appointed ministers of the word, back “then”.
Looking around in the here and now, things appear to be different for clergy and their precious ones. The weight of being the perfect or near perfect example of God’s representative on earth, has become a bit lighter. It seems we all recognize that even though we desire to live for Him and depend upon His Spirit to indwell and renew us, regularly, we live fallible lives.
Thankfully those mercies of His will never end.
Phew!
We all know that leaders of any organization need to model the expected behavior, but “then”, there was an expectation that we needed to be nigh unto infallible. Of course, this was not possible, so some of us failed on a very regular basis.
Some of us were reminded.
Often.
That there was much room for improvement.
Nevertheless, my childhood was one of learning and love. Even mired in my own confusion, I was growing and developing a view of God and His Faithfulness.
Ours was a quiet life.
The doors were always open to any and all who might need a refuge, or just a cup of something warm.
Sundays were most certainly set aside for rest and solitude. Sleep, books, roast beef or roast chicken for lunch, a dish of fruit and a fresh biscuit or bun before heading back to church for evening service.
The best Sundays were when I was allowed to have a friend over. This person would always and without fail be someone from church, who I often did not even see during the week. This friend was allowed to come for the afternoon and we would give her back to her parents when we returned to the evening service. On these days I could even sit with the friend or she could sit with me. Always in the company of a parent. We know what kind of shenaniganism can transpire with two or more youngsters sitting unattended in a service.
Gracious Me!
The only thing that could top the joy of having this friend experience, was “fellowship time”, in the church basement, following the evening service.
I guess this is when I really figured out that I was a people person. So many to talk to and so much good food (banana loaves, squares, cookies, etc) while we all visited together.
My father would of course preach both morning and evening. No such thing as associates or assistants.
Land sakes, there was hardly enough money to put food on the table of one person, never mind two or more.
It’s a remarkable thing how we become who we are as a result of where we are from. Not that we can’t be freed if that “from” is a deep, dark place.
Of course, God is the great redeemer of circumstances and can heal those leftover holes once the harmful nails have been removed.
However
our pain, our joy, our friendships, our work experience, our table talk,
greatly impact our life struggle and development.
This is not bad. This is life.
Learning to dig out the good and stomp on the harmful, develops perseverance. Perseverance in turn comes to completion and we end up lacking nothing. (James 1)
So, Sundays look different now. Stores are open, for one thing. Sometimes Sunday is a resting day and sometimes it is not.
I still find myself doing a lot of yawning and could quite easily sleep for a while on Sunday afternoons. At this stage of my game though, daytime sleep can mean nighttime sleeplessness. So I find other ways to rest.
Today, it was in the kitchen although as I look outside it would appear that Spring is nigh and a brisk walk would be a great idea.
Today I made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Easy! So yummy!
Comfort Food for a modern Sunday afternoon rest.
