In church this morning a grandmother prayed for her grandson who had just had his first day of kindergarten. He told her the first day of school was “horrible”, and she was praying that the second day might go better for him. I no longer remember my first day of kindergarten, but I could understand this first day being troublesome. I’m willing to try most things, even with a bit of enthusiasm, but if it doesn’t work out, or especially if it feels “horrible” — if I have an option, I’m done.
I started thinking about how I deal with new things in my every-day life.
Recently, God seems to be asking me to try some new things with the way I interact with people, and in how I hold on to hurt feelings and anger. As St. Benedict says, the monastery is meant to be a “school for the Lord’s service” — which brings me back to Kindergarten. I’m thinking, of course the boy will go back to school the next day, slowly his new world will seem normal, and he’ll be on his way to many formative years of schooling. Maybe what I need, is to show up for each new thing today, and to stop shying away from situations and relationships I’d rather avoid.