My husband fell this morning. Oh, he's fine, just a little sore and his ego is bruised a bit. It's the sort of thing that happens when Spring begins to creep around and we let our winter guard down. He was getting out to grab a quick cup of coffee at the gas station and he saw the water puddle and stepped out. Only it was frozen water and before he could do anything about it, he was face down on the ice. He said he got up thinking he's never been so glad to have a round belly. It saved him from hitting his face!
It's only been a couple of weeks that Spring has begun to creep around but it is amazing how quickly we forget our "winter legs". We are so glad to see the streets and sidewalks instead of the thick coating of winter ice and snow that we forget the careful winter shuffle; the art of looking carefully for each small step. When it's warmer, you walk a little faster, take bigger steps, and are more confident on bare surfaces.
What happened to my husband is that he forgot to be careful. Spring may be here on the calendar but groundhog or not, ice happens. In fact, this time of year almost requires more caution because the ice can creep up on you when you are not looking. It is still freezing at night which is a blessing because it slows down the thawing process and the flooding but what melts under the sun turns back into ice by morning. Especially in the morning, what looks wet is probably ice.
We do well to focus on what is in front of us and the tasks that are at hand. Psalm 131 puts it this way: "O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." (Psalm 131:1-2)
Multi-tasking has been sold to us as the way we need to work in order to be efficient. As one cooking-show personality puts it, we shouldn't clutter up our kitchens with things that are only good for doing one thing (uni-tasking). This is the justification used for everything from cutting personnel by consolidating job positions to putting in chain stores that take over what would have been the customers of several separate local small businesses. From what I have observed at conferences and meetings, some people seem to delight in demonstrating that they are so busy and good at multi-tasking that they cannot just do one thing at one time but are also texting, talking, and/or emailing. Now God has given each of us many different gifts; I just don't think it works well to try and use them all at the same time.
The task ahead of us beginning this next Sunday is Holy Week which follows the model of the last week of Jesus' earthly ministry. Easter is nearly here but we only reach Easter by first going to the cross. Just as we need to be careful and keep watching for ice at bit longer, we also need to be careful and keep watch on our faith that we do not lose sight of the cross because Easter means nothing without the cross. The point of the whole salvation story is that Jesus gave himself out of love to save the world just as we are also called to give of ourselves out of love. Take time out to reflect on these last days of Lent and on the gift of Jesus Christ. Read Philippians 2:4-11
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