On the road again with Jasper

Thursday in the Second Week of Easter, April 28, 2022                 

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On the road again with Jasper

We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.

Jasper accompanied us yesterday on a trip to the undiscovered country of Georgetown in Texas, Aldi and the famous Monument Café.

We took naps, sat up against trees and watched the birds, wandered the aisles of Aldi (first time I think that Jasper walked the floor of a grocery store rather than riding in the cart), used knife and fork to eat a giant pancake with ears, and considered the beauty at the edges of our lives.

We are witnesses of these things.

All the night before I had been thinking of Shakespeare’s soliloquy for Hamlet, whose life in Denmark took on shadows and weights from which he sorely sought relief.

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them …

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of th’unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin?

I thought yesterday afternoon that Hamlet needed some time with an almost three year old, just to get some perspective. “The thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to” do not need to be the stuff of heartache and despair. What if we look a second time with our little friend and find joy in the morning, discover peace in the afternoon?

The kitchen at Monument Café is a fascinating, busy, smiling place. The window to watch is large and three feet off the floor, but I found a chair for Jasper to stand on, and then he could see. He climbed right on up. He looked in intently. He put his face close to the window. He didn’t want to go back to our table. He came, he saw, he conquered.

Not so Hamlet. No one pushed a chair up to the window of the future, so he could see. Not so any of us adults, not often anyway. We are kind of stuck with what we can see on our own, and our peripheral vision is always too narrow. So again I am thankful for what Jesus told Nicodemus, and glad we could hide in a tree above it all, with the sleeping birds, and listen.

The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard. The one whom God sent speaks the words of God and does not ration his gift of the Spirit, because the Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.

Our server Angie (best in Georgetown, a happy customer told us) did not ration her gift of a Mickey Mouse pancake to Jasper. It was long and wide, like the state of Texas, and she brought a stainless steel pitcher of syrup for him too. “Be careful, that syrup is hot!” He might be left-handed, our grandson, and he took his adult fork in his right hand and knife in his left, and sawed off his first bite.

Then he set his fork and knife down against the plate, and ate. When he finished the first bite he picked up his fork and knife again. We poured the syrup all over the giant pancake, over the strawberries and the blueberries, over the butter and the dollop of whipped cream.

Well. While we were oohing and aahing about his table manners, he took his time and ate about half his pancake. “Grandma, I’m full,” Jasper said.

He got off his booster seat and changed chairs. Then he finished his orange juice and his part of our chocolate malt. He had a bite or two of Grandma’s chocolate pie. We waited outside for Margaret to have her coffee. He chased the grackles and we played catch with our hats. I sat against a tree and he toyed with the idea of eating a gummy he found in the dirt.

He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.

It’s a forty-five minute drive to Georgetown. Jasper slept all the way there, and he slept all the way back. There was no rationing of the Holy Spirit yesterday. After our times together, whether or not we named it, I think all of us fell a little more in love with Jesus.

(Acts 5, Psalm 27, Matthew 4, John 6)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

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