'Tis the Gift...

I often have to ask myself…”was I brought into this world at the wrong time? Did the big guy make a mistake?” I long for a moment to pause from the bustle of life in the 21st century. As a child I loved helping my grandmother with the daily, most mundane tasks. Rising early, pulling on the adult sized coveralls and feeding the cattle, was satisfactory. I would stare down at the pasture where the animals grazed, and wonder if any human foot had ever touched that exact spot. Lunch would be prepared for my grandfather and distant cousins that were out in fields harvesting and plowing…freshly fried chicken, home-made noodles rolled out by hand, and the best, always saved for last, pie! It was a pleasure to take the dust cloth and lemony fresh Pledge to every piece of woodwork in the old farm house. Even though the day was not even close to being half done, I looked forward to it lasting as long as possible.
Daily life on the farm was magical! I look back at that time, and I wonder, how in the world have I come to this fast-paced, barely-able-to-breath-mad-dash-to-the-finish-line, life I live today? Now, before you feel the need to tell me that I am remembering the past thru a child’s eyes, let me assure you that I do realize the back breaking lifestyle of a farming family. It was, and is today, full of hard work and undeniable stress. I guess it’s not the farming I miss…it’s the ability to take the simplest pieces of our daily life, and giving them the honor they deserve.
The lyrics to the old Shaker hymn “Tis the Gift to be Simple” have been rolling thru my mind all morning long. Oh to be simple…to embrace simplicity. That is the lesson for me today. As I switch over the laundered bedding from washer to dryer, as I take care of my five year old and his needs, as I roll out the homemade noodles (my Grandmother’s recipe) rush to get my hair trimmed, help with homework, prepare dinner, load the family up for mid-week services…as I go thru the daily buzz of our family of seven’s life…I will take pause.
I will inhale the fragrance of the clean bedding, I will with gladness engage in a five year olds conversation, and I will relish the feel of the flour and egg on my hands…remembering that life in the simplest form, is a gift.

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
(Elder Joseph Brackett Jr., 1848)