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Shoulds , Shouldn’ts and Sunday Strolls
How can there be any “pluses” in times like these? What can we possibly take away that might last? While walking around Damariscotta this morning on a holiday weekend which would usually be mobbed with people, I began thinking of all the things I “should” be doing. As a sense of mild anxiety crept over me, I realized that downtown was peaceful. My breathing settled. I began to stroll the quiet streets, instead of walking with determination. There was not one thing, I “should” have been doing that was more beneficial to me at that moment.
It’s lovely that the ‘shoulds’ have had to quiet their incessant demands. We ‘should’ go shopping– we ‘need’ things. Except we don’t – not really.
We “should” go to church, except some of us never do. Those that do can see creation outside clearly . One can sometimes listen better in the sounds of nature than in the prating of those of purport to know better than we do. I saw a recent post about letting Jesus out of the church building. It was lovely, and although I grew up in church buildings I no longer frequent them. I like to think I took away the good lessons, the kindness, the compassion. I try, anyway. and the image of a spiritual being being released from the confines of brick and mortar resonates with me. Turn him loose, take his gentle hand which was not judgmental, and carry that spirit of caring forth. Not just on Sundays.
My Pa was a minster. He loved his “flocks” but he also knew that some were what he called “ Sunday Christians.” He reserved a special place in his heart for the ones that dd not darken the doors of the temple, so to speak, but carried kindness to others in every aspect of their lives.
So Sundays don’t need buildings to bring peace. Congregations don’t need to congregate to worship whatever it is they worship. People don’t need to be told what is kind, what is good, they just need to listen to their hearts and not their social influences.
We can all see the birds and the blossoms and the budding trees and let good feelings wash over us.
Sundays used to mean stores were closed. Streets were quiet. No one had anything they “should” be doing that was more important than what was right at home.
Many local shops have chosen to give employees back their Sundays even as they start to open up.They are staying closed like when we were children – for a day of rest. Take a stroll through your town or down your lane to remind you that we don’t really need all the hubbub.
Sundays –for walks, Sundays for things we can’t do when we “should” be doing something else. For skipping stones in the river and kindness.
Sundays -really for the soul again. I hope we can keep some of this. I hope enough of us have noticed how wide our hearts can be when we leave some of the SHOULDS behind and live in this quiet moment between the past and whatever the future will be.
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