Devotion Wednesday, September 17, 2014, – Ecclesiastes 11.10 – Dan Peeler – Minister for Children and Families – Dallas – Cathedral of Hope UCC Dallas Texas

By sdarling@cathedralofhope.com (Shelley Darling)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

by
Dan Peeler
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Minister for Children and Families

Scripture


“Rid yourself of all worry and pain, because the wonderful moments of youth quickly
disappear.”
Ecclesiastes 11.10

A Word
of Hope


We have a vital and exciting Youth Ministry at Cathedral of Hope and that should
be true of any growing church since the education and spiritual growth of our children
and youth has always been essential to the survival of the tradition. The writers
of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Scriptures often spent a lot of time instructing
youth or sometimes scolding them, but they also betrayed a little nostalgia about
the loss of their own youth. Their social structure erected such divisive barriers
between the ruling adult males and the subservient young, that I can’t imagine either
side ever enjoying their lives together. It’s no wonder the writer of Ecclesiastes
is so wistful about the passing of those “wonderful moments.” His adult years must
have been anything but wonderful.

I am grateful to God to live in an era in which we can have wonderful moments throughout
our days, especially when we celebrate our children and youth and are receptive
to the creative examples born of the fresh thinking of the younger members of our
own community.

In our sit-com and reality show culture, we so often spend time amusing ourselves
in pointing out the flaws of others, especially those we envy. Since most of us
are horrified of growing older, we often naturally soften this inevitability by
devaluing the young, particularly teenagers. They’re so moody, so naive, so obstinate,
so rebellious, and we’re so very wise in comparison. If we were to spend less time
making them the victims of easy jokes and more time appreciating their fresh observations
of life, we could perhaps recall some of our own “wonderful moments,” and ask ourselves
why we left them behind.

Jesus saw the young as faith models for all humankind, reminders of the sunrises
in each of our lives. In reference to youth and old age, the writer of Ecclesiastes
also says: “Nothing on earth is more beautiful than the morning sun.” (11.7) It
shines in those young lives around us.

Prayer


Eternal Parent, we are all your children, so why do we sometimes feel we have to
be so stuffy in order to define our own roles as adults? Help us be in real conversation
with our children, to be conscious of the faith examples of the young and to build
our wonderful moments together. AMEN.

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