Something happened with the little kids at church yesterday that illustrates a great truth about grief, mourning and lost / missed opportunities.
I serve in the children’s organization at church. Yesterday one of the other women who serves there was conducting a sharing time with the little kids (ages 3-7). The kids love to participate. Whether it’s being part of a game or putting pictures on a board, etc.
The teacher led the children in a game where one of the children leaves the room while another child hides a word-card. When the first child comes back in the room, s/he searches for the item while the others tell the child whether they are warm or cold based on proximity to the item that was hidden.
One of the adorable 3-year-olds really wanted to be the one who left the room and could come back in and search for the word-card. But she was not selected. The teacher assured her everyone would have a turn to do something, but this was the last card and someone else had already been chosen.
The 3-year-old folded her arms, extended her lower lip and stared at her lap, obviously upset that she was not able to do the thing she wanted to do.
Periodically, the teacher offered to let her do something else, but she just sat there, shaking her head, obviously still upset over the missed opportunity.
I watched her pass up opportunity after opportunity to participate, refusing anything else offered to her. She never did re-engage.
Missed Opportunities
As I watched this exchange, I thought about how we can all be like that 3-year-old at times. How often have I been blind to or rejected opportunities offered to me because I was still upset over some past thing that didn’t go my way?
How many times have I missed out on opportunities in relationships because I was still irritated about some past offense or past personality clash?
How many times do we all miss opportunities to fully participate and engage in life because we have become so focused on our pain that we make no room for joy?
It’s something I’ll be pondering on for some time….
How often are we so consumed by our pain that we have no room left for joy?
