The Inherited Expression
"… that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean?'" Joshua 4:6, New King James Version
On the show This Is Us, middle-aged couple Toby and Kate are finally expecting. Toby perceptively notices that a great deal of tension surrounds possible problems that could still accompany the pregnancy. He challenges Kate on this, suggesting a counterintuitive remedy that she pursue another life goal of finishing school while she waits for the baby's arrival. The reasoning for his prescription is memorable, as he connects that the expression on their faces when they talk about the baby is going to be the one he or she inherits.
So it is with us. The narrative we relate, and especially the emotion we attach to it are contagious. If we are discontent, suspicious, defensive, these attitudes are caught at least as much as taught. If, on the other hand, we follow through with the fullness of our story to the extent that we consistently relate it to the goodness of God, that, likewise, can be something close to inherited. As we answer the questions, asked and unasked by the next generation, what they events in our lives and the lives of our country mean, we choose much of the heritage we bequeath.
The Toby Prescription is an especially helpful one as we seek to go beyond editing our speech and pasting on a satisfied expression. Without the self-examination and follow-through he suggests, we can easily foist our goals on those we influence, or at least inadvertently make them responsible for the dissonance we feel. By, as Toby suggests for Kate, continuing to insist on a growth mentality in ourselves, we instead pass on a healthy humility and a deeper gratitude.
On the show This Is Us, middle-aged couple Toby and Kate are finally expecting. Toby perceptively notices that a great deal of tension surrounds possible problems that could still accompany the pregnancy. He challenges Kate on this, suggesting a counterintuitive remedy that she pursue another life goal of finishing school while she waits for the baby's arrival. The reasoning for his prescription is memorable, as he connects that the expression on their faces when they talk about the baby is going to be the one he or she inherits.
So it is with us. The narrative we relate, and especially the emotion we attach to it are contagious. If we are discontent, suspicious, defensive, these attitudes are caught at least as much as taught. If, on the other hand, we follow through with the fullness of our story to the extent that we consistently relate it to the goodness of God, that, likewise, can be something close to inherited. As we answer the questions, asked and unasked by the next generation, what they events in our lives and the lives of our country mean, we choose much of the heritage we bequeath.
The Toby Prescription is an especially helpful one as we seek to go beyond editing our speech and pasting on a satisfied expression. Without the self-examination and follow-through he suggests, we can easily foist our goals on those we influence, or at least inadvertently make them responsible for the dissonance we feel. By, as Toby suggests for Kate, continuing to insist on a growth mentality in ourselves, we instead pass on a healthy humility and a deeper gratitude.
Comments
Post a Comment