In later years, in the electrical trade, it was to be worn only on larger projects. It was a matter of personal taste on private jobs, but when contracts were being met; hard hats were required by all who… went beyond that point! One never tires of memories… or I don’t anyway. Perhaps it is the time of life that I find myself in. These past weeks have been busy with both work and company. There have been moments of required reflection, but also many of spontaneous laughter while others reminded everybody present of times gone by, and why they were of importance to them. But, like life has a way handling time, there was soon that turning the tide of laughter to the ebbing of that joy, being replaced by heartache and worry; yes those emotions have been present as well.
As I sat in church on Sunday, we were given an overview of the needs surrounding that particular community. A statement was made about the overwhelming presence of cancer these days. While disease such as cancer is scary, and may, in fact, cause death for some, there are so many other factors in life that we are just overburdened with during much of our waking hours. I have written in the past of the worries and concerns of today’s family units. Little is hidden from view with Social Media these days, giving a forum to those who are in the pain of mere subsistence. They rail out against the inconsistency and inadequacy of a government that is supposed to protect and serve us with both fairness and equality for all; now leaving them adrift in disillusionment and fear.
Today, my thoughts are on track with growing up. My childhood was blessed, no matter the negative reflections that sometimes make their way into my own heart. Evil will destroy the joy, that lives might be upset and destruction become the victor… “Hard hats required beyond this point.” I was tiny for my age; I’ve related that on other occasions. Were you tiny, too tall, a tad heavier than most, or like me needed to turn around several times to cast a shadow? Were you the person voted least likely to be Prom-queen or King of the hill in some of those childhood games? How about never being invited to the parties, last to be called on to join in, and then only when they just needed one more player so the game could go on? There are countless ways which life deals its hammering blows to our psyche and cause us to stumble, just as though we had been hit over the head with a hammer.
Wouldn’t it be great if, like those fairy tales that I pray were read to all of us in childhood, could actually be paralleled in our own lives? Some days I wallow about like “Donkey, in Shrek “, who when looking down cries, “I don’t have any toes… I think I need a hug!” I have wondered from time to time what the importance of those fairy tales was, when it seemed to me as I began to mature, that life began to shove its reality into my face, (far remote from any of the “the good guys always win!” concept of how life could be lived) and the question “why” rang louder by the day. Teenagers question everything, don’t they? Their minds are being shaped, moulded and clouded (did I just say that?) from every side. Yes, shaped by experience, molded by the first waves of ethic; first parental (hopefully moral) and then society’s oft times perverted sense of what can be done or gotten away with (perhaps more these days than in my youth!) Finally, they are clouded by the masked grey issues being tossed about, concerning their identities, need for structure and a foundation of faith. The laissez-faire attitude of yesteryear has been replaced by a more sinister rebellion sparked by what we called in the 1980’s New Wave Philosophies.
I have found that youth need direction in their lives, they long for structure, but they battle against it. It is their nature. Built into every living creature is that desire to walk, run, fly or just know independence beyond the innate desire to survive. Why then does there suddenly arrive that rebellious nature in most teens, that is most often countered by a parental stubbornness, fired by hurt and angst? It is the natural progression of life!
My dear old Mom was a philosopher in her own right. Her take on life was that she would rule the roost until the rooster grew its outer feathers and began to strut. I am laughing as I write. Mom had a corner of the deck enclosed with old storm windows to protect her from those prevailing westerlies, that she called her chicken coop! She decorated it with … yup… poultry signs and she was known as the ol’ hen and Dad was the ol’ rooster (or similar label… not sure at this point… maybe I don’t want to remember! LOL). She felt that life calls on us individually to find our way, and like the eagle that pushes the chick from the high nest to learn to fly, at some point there is that push needed for our human chicks. We may have many reasons to cling, including financial, physical and physiological ties, but there must come a time, and it shall come, whether we are ready or not.
In a conversation one day I was told, “Keep your sorrows and trials at home! Dad and I are too old to take on anyone else’s worries!” While shocked by the immediate response I got, I was finally able to consider the truth of wisdom. It was not many years later that on the turning of the tide, she said, “But we have grown to depend on your being here for us… what will we do now?”... It is a shock on all fronts when the safety of childhood, or the support in later years shifts, leaving both worries and doubt to fix its claws into our joy!
My children know that I have worn many hats, besides the hard hats needed on construction sites. In fact, just the other day, in a conversation with the company who had dropped in for a few days, from some distance away, my daughter stated that I had re-invented myself so many times that it must be hard for me to remember them all. While the former has some level of truth, the latter leaves me wondering if I am teetering on the cusp of an invite to forced entry into a nursing home! LOL Those transitions from childhood to teenager, and on through the various levels of maturity; each carries with them the potential of their own set of trials. We enter into the zones of life where… “Hard hats are required beyond this point!” It is not enough to say that with each set of stresses comes a newfound immunity to the backlashes of life. Like the falling snow in winter, much of what we go through carries with it cumulative effects. We can’t always duck the things we see coming. Ask those in the workforce who suddenly after 23 years of work, and just short of their full pension, are given a separation notice as the plant goes into receivership, or just closes after a corporate decision to move the physical plant to a third-world country supplying cheaper labour!
Youth today are confronted by change, change that scares them, change that they are not prepared for, but change that nevertheless they have been longing for in life. Parents have to release, and yet support! They do so by either financial, if unable in any other manner, or with moral support while nudging with love, their fledgelings outward and hopefully upward to wings of success; a success that matches their calling!
It’s a tough world, no matter the position in which we stand. Joy is countered by tribulation and we duck and defend, roll and counter, or we may get hit by that which may stun or even end life if we do not wear the hard hats provided. So, is there a key to the secret of success, a definition both easy to explain and simple to carry through with, beyond the analogy used of a physical hard hat in life. Oh yes, there is. But like most of life, it involves choices. Going to the ice cream parlour, for a triple cone on a hot day, is like inviting disaster to say the least. You know that heat will collapse that delight and still, you order it up, and are willing to take the chance. Licking, biting and slurping to keep back the flowing tide of melting goo, you do your best to conquer the task before you! You may end up with a napkin and hands that are a bit sticky, but you’ve enjoyed the challenge and have done your best! You might have stayed home and taken some from the freezer, but where is the fun in that!!!
Going out on some limbs are just plain fun, others are just plain stupid and sometimes you find yourselves placed out there while you watch the tree being chopped down. In any case, the limb may break. We are the recipients of the results of folly, but also that of life being brought to our door un-invited. When the door opens we have choices! Mom said when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade. Oh, the reductionism of such statements. But, is there not a tad of truth held therein?
Absolutely; the pastor said in his message, “Let it be and then be free!” OK... another tortured attempt to side-step reductionism again that failed. No… it didn’t, not really! In churchese (the language of those who are steeped in Church terminology), the phraseology used may often need to be translated to be fully understood. There is a directive that again means little to those who are struggling, until they let go; throwing up their hands in submission, finally realizing that what is facing them is bigger than who they are, or what they are capable of. Let's consider this for a moment.
Dr. Eugene Peterson wrote a paraphrase in contemporary language of a statement that Jesus made in Matthew 11:29-30. It says: “… Walk with me and work with me… watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Some will be more familiar with the NIV that states it this way:”… 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
I don’t know how people cope every day without either faith or hope in Christ? Some reading this will not understand, others may immediately reject, but hope in Christ adds a dynamic to the faith that otherwise may leave one reeling without direction… lost, in other words. I put on “THE HELMET OF SALVATION”… some might add “of life, hope and truth”! This is my hard hat.
We spend our lives walking into those areas… the truth is, they can’t always be avoided. What do you have for protection against the storms in life? If you are just muddling along, dodging, while catching up some salves to control the open wounds, why not just stop... Yes, just stop! Is the path you are on the only path and are your needs mentally and spiritually really being met? Walk over there… over there to the edge… see not with your eyes, but with your heart… Ask these two questions… am I succeeding in what I am doing my way and the second, Lord, will you help me surrender if I am no longer able to carry this burden? You might just be surprised at the answer you get! But, it is your choice. Meanwhile, I am praying for you!
