Eating, drinking, using our meal times, tea times and in between times of eating became for Clay and me a means of guiding and passing on the messages of our hearts to our children. Discipleship, mentoring, loving, influencing, cultivating excellence of soul, stimulating to excellent thinking--these are some of the intentional goals that filled my soul, (and still do with my adult children), when I make time to share a meal or have a cup of tea with my children. We observe God pursuing His beloved children from the Garden of Eden to the last supper with His beloved disciples, His heart straining to teach, encourage, inspire and train His beloved chosen ones.
Every year for many years, Sarah and I spent a weekend in Asheville after our yearly mom’s conferences to pamper ourselves. The Biltmore was a place we occasionally toured over the years as a place of inspiration to us as we envisioned the Lifegiving Home. It represented a slower time of life, when people went on walks, rocked on chairs looking over stunning views, sat together at meals. I asked Sarah to join me for breakfast early one morning to share one of the "discipleship meals” I scheduled with my children on a regular basis. We shared a small breakfast and coffee and had a wonderful, heart-connecting conversation.
As we then meandered through the old estate, we noticed fresh flowers artistically shaped into masterpieces that bedecked each table. Evidence of skill and cultivation of beauty, art pieces, and wonderful landscape design confronted us at every juncture. We began to slowly walk by the river, seeking to appreciate a few more stolen moments of a beautiful day. Of course we could never possess the opulence of the grand estate, but it gave us ideas for our own lives.
The colors of late summer flowers fairly sang to us as we walked.
However, at every point of our trek, we were surprised to notice so many people glued to their ipads, cell phones, and computers. On our stroll, people did not look at our eyes as we passed, greeting us as used to be the habit of most people. Instead, they hurried, talking into their little machines, missing the glory of the day.
Coming into one of the splendid lobbies to sit for a minute, we saw a mother all but dragging her little boy by his collar. "I just want you to be quiet so I can have my own time with my friends," she shrieked, scowling each step of the way. "Here, look at this and entertain yourself and don't bother me." She handed him a game device and he sat there glued for the next half hour, not even looking up. Sarah looked at me in surprise, her eyes sad.
More people, more apparatuses!
The flowers, clouds, and wild fowl swimming on the river, were screaming of God, but no one was listening.
The blind and deaf people hastily rushed their busy ways, scrambling after vanity, hoping for some life-validation through a screen, not even hearing the whisper of God's reality through the colors telling of His glory, never noticing a single face to offer a smile or even a nod of recognition at another on the trail.
It was discouraging to see the robotic parade of people who were totally disconnected from the present reality of the beauty all around and potential relationships to be shared with real live and present people. We began to count, and twenty people passed us that day with technology in hand taking their attention, in one of the finest, most beautiful displays of landscape and architecture in the United States, but totally unaware and preoccupied as they went.
After we walked through the music room, we walked and were surprised at one more treasure which awaited us.
Lilting, soul-soothing melodies washed over us as we stepped into the light of the lobby. The beauty of the melody was breath-taking. As we rounded the corner, there sat our elfish source of melody--a be-hatted, older but real-life man, playing on real piano keys and bringing delight to a gathering crowd.
At the end of his playing, a small, spontaneous crowd had gathered round and gave him applause.
"Tell us about your life," we asked, as we lingered to talk with him after his concert.
"I have been playing piano my whole life,” he said. “I am a professor at a college, and I love passing on this beauty to as many people who will devote themselves to bringing real music into the worlds of others to bless them. I just passed by this great piano, and wanted to validate its capacity to encourage others here in this wonderful place."
A real man, with a real skill, playing real songs to real people and breathing life, beauty and inspiration into our souls before we left to face the rest of our day. What a gift!
Today, determine to live real life with the people directly around you. Look for the beauty God has sent, and create some of your own!