Results and relationships

An anecdote is often told about Charles Francis Adams Sr who was the United States ambassador to Great Britain during the Lincoln administration. He kept a daily journal and taught his children to do the same.

The journal of Ambassador Adams has an entry which reads simply:

Went fishing with my son; caught nothing. A day wasted.

But his eight-year-old son Henry Brooks Adams also made a journal entry of that same day which reads:

Went fishing with my father today, the most glorious day of my life .

In a world where we are often too busy working to see tangible results and to prove productivity, we sometimes most important are best developed and sustained by simply spending time together. This may or may not be time spent doing nothing, but even when doing something together, the emphasis is not on the doing but on the togetherness

The prophet Malachi looks forward to a day when parents and children will incline their hearts towards each other.

He will turn the hearts

Malachi 4:6 NIV

May we today love our neighbours and one another by inclining our hearts and minds, less towards results and more towards relationships.