At family gatherings over the years, it’s fun to listen and enjoy the sounds of the conversations, the good-natured banter, the younger children’s voices, the older conversations, the commotion of children and dogs playing. Laughter and boisterous chatter create a chorus that fills and overflows the space. It is marvelous. Energy and excitement prevail. Food and beverage enliven the table. It is a meditation on noise – a prayer of “joyful noise.” It is God’s Spirit that brings us together.
There is wisdom in the sounds. Children and grandchildren are here in this place loving, living, celebrating, growing up, meeting challenges, enduring setbacks, enjoying each other’s company in some part because two people, long ago, began a family. Generations of love and commitment are the footings of these family times.
This post begins a biweekly series that reflects on the wisdom that families teach us, and how this gift of wisdom is experienced within the sounds of family life, the feelings, the stories, and the conversations. I write from a grandpa’s perspective.
A young person once described how grandparents see their grandchildren. She said that grandparents look at you with so much love, as if you were so good – and you know that really, you’re not that good. Not as good anyway, as the loving vision your grandparents have of you. Perhaps this is a glimpse of how God views all of us, a loving vision that reaches way beyond what we think of our worthiness for love.
The Scripture tells us that wisdom comes from God. “All wisdom comes from the LORD, and with him it remains forever.” (Sirach 1:1) Families ground our wisdom and cultivate our prayer. This is God’s graceful way.
Let us pray for the grace to listen to God’s wisdom in our lives.
What is one of your favorite family household noises? Why? How do you feel when you hear it?