My daughter came home with sermon notes from Sunday church. She read them to me. I stopped her at the first point. “Wow. This is what I’ve been saying. Christians are the moral conscience of this country.”
I felt like I was being a fuddy-duddy and old-fashioned, but we are responsible to others for our actions. A trip to Arizona put things in perspective for me. I watched people interact with service people — the rudeness they showed to those who waited on them. Leaving their trash on the table after breakfast. I asked my kids, “How can they do that?”
My son-in-law said, “They don’t care.”
“They should care.”
“But they don’t.”
In Arizona, we spent time with our grandson who turned 29. When the conversation came around as to who to pick for a wife, my son-in-law gave him excellent advice: “Watch how they treat service people. That tells a lot. Notice when she takes her grocery cart outside. See if she takes time to put it back in the cart rack. That’s how she’ll take care of your home.”
“Wow. I would’ve ended up an old maid for sure. I’m just now learning about taking time to care.”
I gave my advice to him also. “There is a football player who people think is a great humanitarian because he is very generous to certain charities. They think highly of him.
“In an interview with him and his wife, she sits with two babies in her lap. With each question, she answers with the F word. She is teaching their children it’s OK to curse. I think it makes the husband look bad, lesser than who he is.”
“I know, I know, Grandma.”
I continued. “It was different in my day. Sixty-four years ago, I was 18, your granddad was 22. We were in love. It was his manners and the way he treated me that won me over.
“He’d take off his hat and hold the door for me when we entered a building. He’d walk on the outside of the sidewalk to protect me from the traffic. I’ve never heard a curse word from his mouth. The right woman will love you for it.”
Whether it’s 1960 or 2024, there is still a moral conscience to live up to. The family talked about how different it is today. And maybe that’s why I thought I was just getting old and fussy. The word “fuddy-duddy” means a person with no sense of humor and is disapproving and a bit pompous.
I don’t feel like that person. Maybe I am and I don’t see it. Life is funny to me, and I don’t feel judgmental. It’s a choice to live a right or wrong way with core values.
I made a point to talk to people in the elevator. I talked to a young man at the Costco Ear Center.
He seemed to be in a deep rut. In the conversation, he came alive and when I said goodbye, we were on a first-name basis. I took time to care about him.
During our trip, we had several strong conversations. It was a teaching time for a young man who has his whole life in front of him and an old lady who can hardly walk. The world has changed, but our moral code shouldn’t change. What the world needs today is people who care.
Have I noticed any of this stuff before? No. I was too much in a hurry. Today, I can’t hurry even if I want to. The Lord has a way of slowing me down. It’s a good thing. I don’t think my family thinks it’s a good thing when they have to wait for me to catch up, but I’m better today than I’ve ever been before.
Final brushstroke: If we should live so long, we finally come around to what is important in life.
In this crazy world we live in, we still have an obligation to others. We can learn how to take time to care.
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