World-Transforming Tasks

Today during 4th grade music, my students drew their favorite orchestra instruments as part of a debriefing of last week’s symphony field trip. One particular student did a really good job with her drawings, so I made sure to tell her that she was a gifted artist. She responded, “But I like soccer.”

A little while later at lunch, that same student called me over and asked, “If you could do anything in the world other than be a music teacher, what would you do?”

Without hesitation, I said, “I’d be a preacher or chaplain.”

When I asked her what she’d do if she could do anything in the world, she hesitantly declared, “I’d be a soccer player.”…

Last night, I was struck by this prayer in my devotion book:

“Giver of Peace, slow us down so that we may be driven, not by our desire to succeed or to be rewarded, but by your will, so that we may be rested and ready for the world-transforming tasks you give us. Amen.”

Did you catch everything you just read?!

“Giver of Peace.” A beautiful name for God. An acknowledgement that peace comes only from God.

“Slow us down.” A constant need in this fast-paced, over-worked world. A call to be still. To breathe. To stop doing so much and practice just being.

“So that we may be driven not by our desire to succeed or be rewarded.” What the world tells us we need. Success. Rewards. To be the best. And that need is what so often drives us.

“But by your will.” By God’s will. By a will is higher than our own.

“So that we may be rested and ready.” Rested and ready! The opposite of tired and unprepared. The opposite of how we feel most days. Rested. Because we have slowed down. Ready. Because we have sought God’s will.

“For the world-transforming tasks you give us.” The world-transforming tasks of everyday life. Not redundant, boring, pointless, time-filling tasks. Not waiting for something more. But world-transforming tasks of everyday life right now. Life given to us by God.

I don’t know about you. But I want this prayer to come true! I want to slow down. I want to be driven not by my own desires for success but by God’s will for hope, joy, love, redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness, and justice. I want to feel rested and ready for my days. And I want to see my work as world-transforming tasks given by God.

Who knows. Maybe that simple conversation with my 4th grader began a transformation in her world. Maybe she now knows that she is a talented artist. Maybe she now knows that she can play soccer if she so chooses. Maybe she now knows that there are people who work in churches for a living. Maybe her world began transforming today. And maybe mine did, too. Because maybe I’m ready not to be driven by my own desires for success and understanding but by God’s desires alone.

“Giver of Peace, slow us down so that we may be driven, not by our desire to succeed or to be rewarded, but by your will, so that we may be rested and ready for the world-transforming tasks you give us. Amen.”

And Amen.