I was thinking about prayers
I know they work, but how does that work?
Sometimes my mind can easily be blown from East to West, peering into every cave on every continent looking for answers. This time my mind was being blown thinking about all the people in the world who need help. People kneeling by their bedsides, breaking down on the side of the road, uttering prayers before they have to do something hard. All the different voices and different languages rising up like steam into heaven.
I imagined Heavenly Father in a big, beautiful field catching each prayer like a butterfly in his net. Maybe by the time prayers flutter into heaven, heaven's gravity slows down their wings? But how does he catch them all? There are zillions. How when we are so many and he is one?
And then I remembered my dad.
Reading to us in the hallway of my old house. My sisters and I tucked safely under his arms. Every night without fail. Some nights we were a totally unmerciful, shaking him impatiently between pages, "DAD DAD YOUR FALLING ASLEEP WAKE UP!" He would make each story come alive reading in funny voices giving each character their own personality. No matter how busy or tired, he made it a priority.
Mother Teresa says, we cannot do great things in this life, only small things with great love.
And I understand now how my dad did it. how heavenly father does it: with great love.
Sure he has lots to do, but we are his priorities. Thats all we need to understand.
I am thankful for my fathers.
Also I should mention my grandfather, or my Gichan is here visiting for a month from Japan.
He was the firecheif for 35 years in Japan so hes super curious about anything to do with fire. One of the first things Gichan did on arriving was stick his head in our fireplace and question my mom about how safe it was to have a fire in the house. He cracks me up!
One thing I have learned from him is to never ever loose your sense of wonder.
Before this week, I had not seen Gichan for 11 years. Its almost a sin! But I cried tears of joy at our reunion for how familiar he was to me. He is very simple and brought only a small carry on. There is something so endearing about him. I can hardly speak a lick of Japanese but I just follow him around the house and we get by with what little Japanese I can remember. Though he is smaller than I am now, his heart is like the mountains.
Notes to self: Stretch, be curious, and try not to be picky
I always catch Gichan doing sun salutations and doing things like breaking off plants and smelling them.
Coco and me escorted him to the library this week and helped him find some books.
Ive been thinking lately old people are not picky. Which made me realize this is a "picky" generation we live in. We have so many many many choices, which I'm super grateful for, but it doesn't really help make us adaptable.
We live in this society where we can get EXACTLY what we want, almost WHEN we want it, and I don't know if that's always a healthy thing or not. I selected 2 books for Gichan and he just accepted it right away. Even thought there were like 30 other choices of that same author.
On the other hand its a wonderful thing for this generation because instead of accepting things as they are, like injustice, or a bad policy, our generation belives in variety and demands change or the right to have more than ONE way.
Anyway, I'm feeling thankful for my fathers, curiosity and the endless possibilities that this world has to offer!
Ps. Coco in her kimono straight from our aunties in Japan :)
1 comment:
Oh my gosh! Your grandpa is so cute and so is coco! I cannot believe how adorable she is!
And prayers are funny, aren't they? A girl I met yesterday said she was praying to find a friend! And now we will be friends. I thought that was cute. I've been needing friends too, not necessarily praying for one, but I do feel like Heavenly Father or the Universe makes things happen when we need them to and when we have made a sufficient effort for them to come to pass.
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