There is this crunching sound that happens in my left knee as I go up and down the stairs. I live mostly on one floor of my home, and Lord of Life doesn’t have any stairs, so usually I don’t notice it. But my sister’s house is huge, and I spent the weekend going up and down the 18 steps to and from her second floor. Her kids, 4 and 6 years old, run the whole length in seconds. It made me feel old.
I noticed a lot of other things that made me feel my age. In addition to church on Sunday morning, the kids each had two other activities in the two days I was there. They both had an evening Bible school event, and then Gabi had dance and Gideon had soccer. On top of that, they had plenty of active play time with STEM toys (these are toys that get the young mind to think through things scientifically) and were reading their picture books aloud with clear and confident voices. I’m certain I was not reading that well at their age.
I really enjoyed the time I had with them. I just think the world has changed so much in the last 40 years that it is hard to keep up with the way kids learn now versus the way it was when I was their age. It would be really easy to question all these changes to the point of feeling negative about it. Like anything else that shifts or happens outside our regular view of the world, if we aren’t familiar with or don’t understand an idea, we might reject it or worse, get irritated about it. It can lead to some complaining.
How often does some fluctuation in our accepted view of reality lead to us grousing about it? We know the appropriate way to dress for an occasion, and we rankle when someone wears something we don’t deem suitable. We know how to behave at a museum, and we seethe when we notice kids running around or other patrons talking loudly. We know the right people to vote for and are enraged at how many people don’t understand what is really happening in the world.
Sometimes, we find something to be mad about just so we have something to say in a conversation. Other times, our complaints are just a way to ignore unrelated problems we have in our own lives.
As an example, when I was sitting in the grass watching Gideon practice soccer, I heard a group of moms behind me gossiping and grumbling the entire hour we were there. These are all privileged parents who have the means to send their kids to private school and live in million-dollar-plus houses, and the only topics they could come up with were grievances about people who weren’t there.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus implored his followers not to dwell on earthly things. We hear from Paul in his letters that we need to move beyond the trappings of our mundane, day-to-day lives so we can focus on what is important. In Colossians 3:2, Paul writes, “Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.”
If we mire ourselves in finding negativity in our daily lives, we can’t possibly notice good things, and we certainly miss the point of Jesus’ message of love, welcome, and inclusivity.
This fall, our Monday evening book study will be based on A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen. Throughout the study, we will discuss how our habit of complaining holds us back from enjoying life and spreading Jesus’ love; and we will challenge ourselves to break the habit and be mindful of our words.
I hope you’ll join me in our three-session journey as we work to transform our mindset and focus on the things that truly matter.
Complaint-free for at least two minutes,
John Johns, Music Director