The Loss of Impulsivity
At what age do we lose the ability to do the things our impulses tell us to do? Children have the innate, impulsive ability to do what needs to be done without thinking. An image exemplifying this has stayed in my mind since worship yesterday. A very brief moment in time. A very brief act. A lasting impression.
Yesterday, at Messiah Lutheran Church, we lifted up seven saints who died in Christ during the past year. Seven candles were lit to represent the light of Christ in their lives and in their deaths. The 7 candles were on a little table that ½ the congregation had to carefully pass by on their way back to their pew after communion. A young boy, holding his mom’s hand, came very close to those candles and bent down and blew one out. It made me smile. How instinctive. How impulsive. How impressionable. He saw what needed to be done, and he did it. At the camp I directed in South Dakota, that was the definition of leadership. Seeing what needed to be done and having the willingness to do it. Pastor Dick Borrud told us this each and every day. This boy is one to be tapped for his leadership in the church not only when he gets older but right now. He saw a lit candle. Lit candles need to be blown out, and so he did it. If his mom hadn’t tugged on his arm, I bet all 7 candles would have been blown out. To some this may have been the wrong thing to do; however, to a young boy, lit candles were there to be blown out, and so he acted and did just that.
So when do we lose that ability to simply act? At some age we start to wonder what people think about us and don’t instinctively act. At some age we weigh the pros and cons before we do what needs to be done. At some age we start to think that someone else will do what needs to be done and so don’t act. To be a child. To act like a child. To think like a child. Sounds like the Apostle Paul addressed this concept in 1 Corinthians 13: 11 when he said “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways”
Maybe it’s not that we should act childish, but child-like. Could some of those child-like ways be what we need in the church, in the life and in the world today? If we talked, thought, and acted as a child, would there be trucks mowing down people or almost a whole church full of people injured or dead during worship, or governments not looking out for the people? I wonder.
Jesus knew the importance of children. In Luke 18: 15-17 he said these familiar words:
“Some people brought their small children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them to bless them. But when the followers saw this, they told the people not to do this. But Jesus called the little children to him and said to his followers, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. The truth is you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.”
I applaud the parents at Messiah, and other churches, who faithfully bring their children to worship; get them involved very early on as ushers, greeters, readers, active in Sunday school and other ministries so that they may use their leadership skills; and bring so much joy to the people gathered.
May we act this week a little more child-like - act when we see something that needs to be acted upon and share Jesus’ love in simple, small things that need to be done at that very moment.
Messiah’s Calendar for the Week of November 6, 2017
Monday, November 6
10:00 AM Prayer
10:00 AM Sew Good Quilters
7:00 PM Men’s Bible Study
Tuesday, November 7
10:00 AM Prayer
11:00 AM Cleaning of the Sanctuary
5:45 PM Spiritual Life Board
6:00 PM VDC Reunion Group
6:30 PM Girl Scouts 1217
6:30 PM Girl Scouts 1248
7:00 PM Boy Scout Roundtable
7:15 PM Handbells
Wednesday, November 8
9:30 AM Women’s Morning Bible Study
10:00 AM Prayer
6:00 PM Girl Scouts 1286
7:00 PM Christian Ed Board
7:00 PM Adult Choir
Thursday, November 9
9:30 AM A.A.
10:00 AM Prayer
1:30 PM Healing and Prayer Service
5:30 PM Healing and Prayer Service
7:00 PM Boy Scout Roundtable
7:00 PM Friendship Bible Study
8:00 PM Real Women, Real Faith
Friday, November 10
9:00 AM Set up for Trivia Night
10:00 AM Prayer
8:00 PM AA
Saturday, November 11
8:30 AM Connection Ministries
9:00 AM Food Pantry
9:00 AM Worship & Music Board
11:00 AM Jean Amundson’s Memorial Service
5:30 PM Worship
6:00 PM Youth Trivia Night childcare
6:30PM Trivia Night
Sunday, November 12
9:00 AM Traditional Worship/Prayers for Healing & Wholeness
10:15 AM Fellowship/Sunday School
11:15 AM Grace Contemporary Worship
5:30 PM Confirmation and HS youth dinner
6:00 PM Confirmation Class
6:00 PM HS youth group
