Pass it on
Tell it to your children (Joel 1:3)
My middle son has had some very good news. His school is shut and he won't have to take his A-Levels. I'm not sure this is good news for everyone. My older two would have been horrified, I suspect. All that work gone to waste. But for him it's the perfect outcome. He can now train full time and start thinking about how to set up his own business. The only down side is that races are also cancelled. But, hey, an extra year's training season!
It struck me how much character affects how we experience things. For my Dad, his forced isolation is quite galling. He's the Peter Pan of the ageing population, ever young and eager to be active. For my Mum it's the human contact she misses, but she loves reading, they have a large garden and a sunny patio (or The Terrace as he insists on calling it). I expect she'll rather enjoy it after a while.
So what message should we pass on to our children? Well they'll all finally learn to wash their hands properly, even the boys. But more than that, will they learn the value of rest, an art so long forgotten? Will we all be able to embrace the fragility of life, where so long we have felt immortal? Can we hope to offer a different perspective, where exams are not the most important event in a child's life, but time with grandparents is? I don't know, but I do know we need to allow this moment to change our vision of what matters for good.
My middle son has had some very good news. His school is shut and he won't have to take his A-Levels. I'm not sure this is good news for everyone. My older two would have been horrified, I suspect. All that work gone to waste. But for him it's the perfect outcome. He can now train full time and start thinking about how to set up his own business. The only down side is that races are also cancelled. But, hey, an extra year's training season!
It struck me how much character affects how we experience things. For my Dad, his forced isolation is quite galling. He's the Peter Pan of the ageing population, ever young and eager to be active. For my Mum it's the human contact she misses, but she loves reading, they have a large garden and a sunny patio (or The Terrace as he insists on calling it). I expect she'll rather enjoy it after a while.
So what message should we pass on to our children? Well they'll all finally learn to wash their hands properly, even the boys. But more than that, will they learn the value of rest, an art so long forgotten? Will we all be able to embrace the fragility of life, where so long we have felt immortal? Can we hope to offer a different perspective, where exams are not the most important event in a child's life, but time with grandparents is? I don't know, but I do know we need to allow this moment to change our vision of what matters for good.
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| Ham Hill, the long view over the Standing Stones to the War Memorial and beyond |
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