Just checking.
The people were very active. In fact they had been active for a long time.
They were given the orders of what they should be doing. Indeed they were following what their parents had received. And their parents were following what their own parents had been doing in following instructions. This was something so settled and engrained in the hearts of the people, barely anyone questioned it. They just kept active doing it.
It took one of those new people coming in to ask them a simple question: Have you checked your instructions lately?
There might be general instructions given but their application in the given situation may change. Even as the given situation is not exactly the same as the one that took place previously. It’s at least worth checking.
Checking again to appreciate what the bigger picture is. Checking again to see what the overall aim is. Checking again to see if what is being done is right to reach the desired outcome. Checking again to measure what the current activity does to match what is important, what is valuable and what is worthwhile.
Checking can happen whilst the activity is taking place. It’s often good, however, to check when activity is more about the checking than it is about doing things for the sake of it. There are so many helpful questions to ask when checking. Questions that help to review what can stay and what might need to change. Questions that gives the opportunity to celebrate what has gone well. Questions that gives insight into what went wrong.
Either way, there is great merit in just checking what’s going on. It is not the case that everything our parents did was supposed to be copied in our generation. It is for every generation to undergo its process of realising, engaging and activating the result of what was realised and engaged with. It is for every generation to do that and from time to time stop and look at what they’re doing and when asked about it, reply that they are …
Just checking …
… But will we reach?
(Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 