My Brother Jim

I am the oldest of nine children. One of my sisters died a few years ago. One lives in California; another in Texas. The rest live in Acadiana. I remember being close to my brothers and sisters growing up; but I joined the Navy when some of them were still young. I was in the Navy for 11 years and after that Law School at the University of Florida (Go Gators) and a year practicing in Florida. When I finally returned to Lafayette, our lives had moved pretty far down different tracks and I kind of lost track of my siblings particularly the younger ones. We get together once a year a Christmas, but I don’t get to spend much time with each one during that event.
Recently, I have gotten close to my brother Jim. That’s Jim behind my girls, Allison, Jessie and KK. He’s the youngest of my siblings. We share a passion for Cajun basketball. (Yes, even during this miserable season.) We would see each other during the games. Before my dad died last year, I would take him to the games, but Jim would often come sit with me and dad.The last few years, I sometimes went to watch his daughter play softball for UL.
We stepped up our relationship this year. With Dad gone and me with two season tickets, Jim and I sat together for the first game. That first game, we hardly watched the game. We talked. In that conversation I learned Jim had become something of a handyman. He built his own shop. After seeing the shop, I asked Jim to spend Saturdays with me, helping with some of my projects. We have been doing that and enjoying it thoroughly.
We’ve had to set our Saturdays aside for a few weeks, because of my weekly Saturday Kairos training meetings and I already miss our time together. I feel I know my brother so much better now.
There’s a lesson here about our relationships with others, especially God. We were born for relationship with God, but it sure doesn’t seem we’re very good at it. Today OC asks, “Have you ever been alone with God?” He talks about the extraordinary steps and the misery God often has to drag us through for us to be alone with Him.
Take a lesson from me and Jim. We’ve done two things we never did before: (1) Listen to each other and (2) Spend time doing things with each other. Let me suggest that’s what we need to do with God. If our prayer life consists of just talking to God, that’s not enough. We need to spend some time listening. If our time with God is just talk, even if He does most of the talking, that’s not enough. We need to do things with God.
I can’t get out of my head the introduction time during our first Kairos Training meeting last Saturday. Each person introduced himself to the group of about 40. And nearly every one stated that they were there, because they see God at work there. There’s lots of work in Kairos, but you get the clear sense that your working with God…well, it’s actually more like you’re watching God work. Sort of like me and Jim. He really does most of the work and I watch. Jim, I look forward to returning to our Saturday routine.
You want to know God? Be alone with Him. Shut up. Get to Work. (Do things and watch Him work) and
Be blessed.