Attentive to the Simple Things

I smiled at Jesus's words to the crowds:

"When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens."

Umm, sorry, Jesus, but I'm a pretty rotten interpreter of the weather. Horrible, in fact. If I wear my cute rain boots it will be 80 and sunny. Sandals and shorts and it's a downpour. I am perpetually too cold, too hot, too . . . something. My only grace is Minnesota in winter, which is (praise God for consistency) faithfully frozen.

Yet the Lord puts faith in us to be attentive to these simple things, and even more so:

"Why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?"

These quiet, persistent words echo in my heart whenever I actually take the time to be attentive to them.

My life (and I'm guessing yours, too) are full-to-the-brim with opportunities to seek the truth within the present day. For me, it is the grumpy, unresponsive clerk at the grocery store, the friendship that has been wounded and in need of reconciliation, the tears of a clingy little one, the moans of a mother in labor, the vacant stare of my papa whose mind and body have been gripped by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

What is right? And what is true? To lead a life that is, as Saint Paul exhorts, "worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love." It means to wish a good day to the one who is having a hard time of it, to seek forgiveness from a beloved whom we've wronged, to brush away the tears of a little one and hold the hand of a woman in need, and to sing to the man who might not remember me with his mind, but remembers me instead with his heart.

I may not be able to interpret the weather, but it is these things that are far more important.

What is Our Lord asking you to speak truth about today? Let it sink into your heart as a Truth that is unshakeable.

Karen Schultz is a Certified Birth Doula living a Twin Cities life with a country girl's heart. Read more about her here.