Love
the REST of the week #126
It’s the rest of the week and if you’re wondering how you can rest when the world is falling apart and so many people are suffering, here’s a post from the pre-Substack days reminding us that we can start right where we are.
In case you're tempted to think you can’t possibly be making a difference (which is not a restful thought at all), consider this comforting realization Daniel and I stumbled on several years ago while we were living in Northeastern Thailand (Isaan).
As part of our culture study, our family signed up for Isaan music lessons at a local music shop. We each picked a different instrument and it was great fun except for those times when we'd slacked off on practice.
Several weeks in, Daniel (who was learning how to play the ponglang) announced that he was absolutely not going to the lesson because he hadn't practiced.
I reminded him that we were doing this for fun and it wasn't a performance, etc., but who wants to go to anything unprepared?
“You know..." I was thinking out loud, “we go to learn and you will learn something new, but we also go to connect with people--to share God's love"
He looked up doubtfully, “but I don’t even talk, so I’m not really doing that.”
The response that came out of my mouth was something I had never consciously considered before and I believe God gave me the answer as much for myself as for Daniel.
“Every morning you ask God to come into your heart, right? So when you go there, God is going there. You don’t have to say anything—his presence makes a difference and you make a difference just by being there.”
We looked at each other, neither saying a word. It was a new thought, but a true one that offered relief from the burden that it is all up to us to do and say the right thing.
Just showing up is a way to love.
(Oh--Daniel decided to go and had a good time. He still likes to pull out his instrument and play around on it when he's home from college.)
Here are a couple of fun videos--one of the ponglang and one of Isaan music that features the other instruments with traditional dance.
https://www.google.com/search?..
(On this next one, you may have to copy and paste the link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmssBuTYS8A
May God's presence bring you comfort and rest.
Alicia