336/365

DPP 2-

(Norweigan reindeer, meet Mexican tile- which has nothing to do with the rest of the story...)

Saturday afternoon and two of our neighborhood buddies meet me at the corner as I make the turn towards home. "We're coming to see Tim," they tell me, "Can we ride with you?" "OK," I agree, "Go tell your parents." They run quick and tell the adults who aren't their parents but who have similar status, and then jump in the car for the one block ride. They wave at the kids we pass and I have to laugh out loud because how did riding in a CRV with 200,000 plus miles become a desirable thing?

They help us unload the groceries and check out our Christmas card family photo while Tim gets the robot out. They drink some coke and poke around with the robot for a bit. And then it's game time.

They play YAMSLAM, a Yahtzee-like dice game and I hear Tim trying to interpret "full house" and "small straight" in Spanish. Inside, I doze off in a corner chair in the afternoon sun. The game nears it's end when two more boys show up at the gate and want in. Clearly, the two already inside at the time aren't excited about that possibility. With a bit of bravado afforded from their protected status behind the gate, our two young friends, not generally known for self-control, lip off a bit to the bigger boys.

From what I am told, in a quick moment later, one of the boys on the outside scales the fence and comes towards the table. And before Tim knew what happened, the kid hits our mouthy young friend on the side of the head. I hear the mini-raucous on the patio and head out to see. The offender is escorted outside our gate immediately with a stern reprimand for his behavior and disrespect. The victim gets ice for his head and lots of consolation and a reminder about his words, too. And we are angry and sad and disappointed and frustrated and...

Clearly, in hindsight there are many ways it all could have gone different. We second-guess ourselves with lots of "they shouldn't've's" and plenty of "we should've's." We talk about modifications we can make to the fence to keep boys from climbing over. We contemplate meeting in different places. Sure, that all might make a difference.

But really, what we all need most is more grace, more peace, more love, more Gospel. Early this morning, I prayed from the Daily Office,

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

I think we'll be back playing games next Saturday, too. Maybe we can all try again.