Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
The Third Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2001
Volume 46, No.17

To the Children . . .
Today I'm writing this front page Chronicle article especially for the children. Whether you're six or twelve or even eighteen, this is for you. When I was those ages, I used to look at people of the age I am now and wonder one thing about them. I'd wonder what they were feeling - not what they were thinking or doing or planning, but what they were feeling. I guess it was because they didn't usually look like they were feeling much of anything in particular, and they didn't act like it very much either. Instead, they always seemed to be so in control of themselves, so occupied with big thoughts or with big, serious conversations. It seemed to me that they even dressed seriously most of the time!

But I felt awash with feelings. I was happy, or I was sad. I was excited about things or sometimes very sad about things. I loved to climb as high as I could go in the big tree in our back yard, or to have long talks with my best friends or to listen to music on the radio until midnight, when the station went off the air. And while I was doing all these things, I would feel all that they stirred up in me. And I can remember so well my prayer from those days: "Please, Lord, don't let me ever be without feeling."

Does this ever happen to you? Do you let your feelings well up in you and then taste them, lick your lips and savor them just the way you do your favorite flavor of ice cream? I hope you do. I do still. And I hope we never stop.

Because, you see, I think that God speaks to us in a special way through our feelings. That's where we learn about being very happy or very sad, about loving others and wanting to be loved, about being brave or being frightened. It's where we learn about who we are and who we're not. And because of all of this, I think it's where we learn about God, because God feels all these things too. So I hope you'll talk with God - and with your parents or your grandparents or with me - about what you are feeling. Feeling is a way to know God better and a way to know yourself better. God loves you very much and wants you to feel that love. And, you know, I love you too! So when we see each other at Calvary, won't you please say hello and maybe even sometimes tell me about what you've been feeling. Because I'd like very much to know you better and to hear how the Spirit is moving in your life.
~ Peggy Gunness