My grandfather and I spent much of my childhood huddled around a magnetic drawing board completing arithmetic problems for fun.
We would take breaks to eat nachos and waltz around the living room, where I got to stand on his feet as he showed me the way. Some days, he would recite Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry to me, or we would make an extravagant fort in the family room. With him as my most attentive teacher, I surely learned algebra, but I also learned lightheartedness, joy, and creativity.
Even now as I waltz into my 20s, he is still teaching me all the things I did not know I needed to learn, and doing it ever so gently. Always anticipating my needs and available with wise advice, his care for me is a glimpse into today’s Gospel, Matthew 6:7-15.
I often forget that Jesus loves us so much that He teaches us the linchpin of relationship with Him: prayer.
When I read His words, I am called back to my inner child space, to sit in wonder and learn all the simple things again. He is letting me stand on His feet in the dance, teaching me how to pray to the Father by doing it first. It is all the advice I did not know I needed, or maybe thought I had outgrown.
Still, He is bringing me back to the fundamentals like the Teacher He is, with patience in His eyes. It seems like I am learning the “Our Father” all over again, because within it, He is teaching me about His heart for me.
He goes before me because He knows the way. He teaches me because He knows my needs. He wants to hear from me because He loves me.
Jesus, I pray that You would continue to teach us how to pray, for You are the eternal Teacher. Relationship with You is everything. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Mediate on the words of the Our Father today.
Sarah Elizabeth is a graduate student studying International Security. She earned her Bachelor’s in Politics from The Catholic University of America, and now resides in the Washington, DC area with her cat, Regina. Originally from Arizona, Sarah treasures iced oat milk lattes, mountain views, and Saint John Henry Newman.
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