Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry

by Katrina Kenison

PRETZEL SHAPES In large bowl, dissolve 1 tablespoon yeast in ½ cup warm water. Add: 1 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon salt Add: 1 cup flour Knead dough, then divide it among two to four children and let them

have their way with it. They can roll little pieces into snakes, then form them into shapes or letters. Place shapes onto cookie sheet, brush lightly with beaten egg, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees.

I don’t have to be the “best” at anything. I can sing or run or paint a picture just for the

pleasure of doing it.

Certainly, taking care of the invisible requires that we change our focus, shifting away from the material world we all inhabit into the realm of the spirit.

But I have come to believe that all of these activities are essential. They are what is meant by “nurturing.” As the writer Julia Cameron reminds us, “So much of what we need, so much of what we want, is to be savored, cherished, cared for and cared about.

There’s always more stuff to do than time to do it in, no matter how I spend my Sunday. What’s more, my soul was begging for a break.

But what we all need—even more than a new leaf blower, a trip to the multiplex, or even a drive to the farm stand in the country—is to stop moving.

We need time for stillness, time that is devoted to the soul’s own purposes.

and a focus on the family (this is what our two boys really want, anyway).

I will deadhead the rosebushes or plant peas, but I won’t pay bills—for I can hear Sabbath’s secrets in my garden, but not at my desk.

In other words, we let the day unfold on its own.

Be quiet together, and listen to the voice of spirit. Chatter is a habit, a way to fill up every nook and cranny of time—and children can become as accustomed to a stream of small talk as adults. But all those words just keep us from making our own, deeper observations. As an old African proverb reminds us, “No one shows a child the sky.”

PRAYER FOR LITTLE CHILDREN From my head to my feet I am the image of God. From my heart to my hands I feel the breath of God.

When I speak with my mouth I follow God’s will. When I behold God Everywhere, in mother and father, In all dear people, In beast and flower, In tree and stone, Nothing brings fear, But love to all That is around me. —RUDOLPH STEINER

And why do we allow our children to fall victim to the same kind of overscheduling that keeps us from enjoying our own lives? I am convinced that one reason we try to do so much is because we are afraid.

How many times each day do we urge our children to “hurry”? In our attempts to make the most of every day, we herd them along from

one thing to the next, praising their accomplishments and urging them on to new ones.

Gift from the Sea