Keeping in Step (2)
Hi Everyone.This ends this very mini series on keeping in step with the Spirt.
It is government school hols and so I will take a break from EmmDevs until 18 July.
Blessings and Love to you all!
Theo
| Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians5:25) |
(Continued from yesterday...)
I have a vivid memory from a wedding I officiated at. A dad was walking his daughter down the aisle: he was fighting back the tears but smiling broadly - he was proud of his daughter and happy for her. The music was playing, the groom was beaming and the congregation was admiring the bride's dress...
About halfway down the aisle it happened - the dad adjusted his step with the little shuffle I remember learning on the cadet parade ground.
There were a number of things about the action that impressed me:
- I suspect that if we were to ask him if he remembers doing it, the dad would probably not recall doing it. It was an automatic response.
- It revealed a sensitivity and attention to detail on the part of the father. Among all the other stimuli, the father noticed this little thing: He was out of step.
- Now no-one expects people to walk in step down the aisle, but the dad had a military background and from that background the assumption is that "in-step" is better than "out of step". The dad was giving his best to the moment.
- It was a very humble thing to do. One could argue that he was the "higher rank" on the day. He was the dad and the daughter should be expected to stay in step with him, but he didn't squeeze her arm and hiss "Get in step!", he just made the adjustments. (Now I'm not implying that we are superior to the Holy Spirit, but sometimes were are in circumstances where the Holy Spirit calls us to fall in-step with people or events that we might consider "below" us.)
As we walk through life the Holy Spirit will nudge us and prompt us with little course corrections. If we respond quickly, one little shuffle will do it. If we let it drift too far, it will often take a couple of shuffles.
Like the dad in my story, let's work so hard at staying in step that it begins to be an automatic response. Let's pay attention to the smaller details because the Spirit is often at work in the little things. Let's have an attitude of excellence (NOT slavish perfectionism!!!) that permeates our behaviour. Finally, let's make sure that we don't take ourselves too seriously.
