Sunday Sunrise

The morning broke with beauty that left me speechless. While watching the sky transform from darkness to light I kept thinking about the words I wrote last night regarding the gentleness seen in devout Buddhist parents. I wondered why in all my years I have seen so few gentle Christian parents.
I searched my memory for the recollection of just one quiet gentle Christian parent. Well, there was one, but later we found out their gentleness was an outside face only.
I am not saying there are none, just I have not known any that I can recall. We knew lots of folks that never seemed to loose their temper, but they would still give a pinch now and again to a restless child or be harsh with punishment from time to time.
Thoughts of the "gentle shepherd" kept coming to mind, and how we are to be like him. Sure I know about the verse, "spare the rod" but I also know that a good shepherd never beats his sheep with his rod, rather, he gently reaches out to hook them with the crook to pull them back to safety.
Perhaps too many use this verse to excuse their own temper. Again, I am not saying all, but some.
Maybe for me, in my search for living a simple life, with peace and a true gentleness of spirit, there haven't been many arrows pointing to the gentleness shown in Christ's example. Many tend to run to the old testament when they have been harsh, using Gods stern actions as an example, but then when trying to run from the laws of the Old Testament, they run quickly to the New Testament to show the laws are no longer needed in the Christian life. Are we just picking and choosing ?
I went on a search to find out what is said about gentleness in the New Testament.
Philippians 4:5 says ....Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near
in Galatians 5:22 and 23 it tells us...But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I wonder why it is that so many, including myself at times when raising my children, failed miserably in this area of maintaining a gentle spirit. And I do understand the concept of trying and falling short of the mark, but I have to wonder how hard we try, and using the cutsie phrases like, "we all fail and are a work in progress" doesn't just give us reason to not keep trying harder. Not long ago, someone shouted, actually raised their voice to me, telling me the only way to be saved is to do whatever it was he was saying... I certainly didn't listen to his words. He was yelling. Yelling shuts us down. It shuts children down very fast and adults too.

Christ said about himself in Matthew 11:28-30 and I seriously doubt he shouted it.
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I am beginning to see a connection between living simply and being gentle. The less stress in our lives, the easier it is to be calm. When we are not weary from running to and fro chasing things, possessions, fame, or recognition, then we can have a gentle spirit and meekness is more natural.
Just my thoughts on a Sunday morning as the sun rose and showed me profound beauty.