In November 2012, the inauguration of the Municipal Borough of Parque das Nações, where we live, as a separate administrative region within the city Lisbon was greeted with a great fanfare and opening ceremony. There have been a number of changes since then, but none more noticeable than, now 20 months on, the awful degradation of the beautiful lawns and parkland along the riverbank. I guess the care of these areas now comes under the general care of the city’s Parks and Gardens Department, and the current state of neglect is obvious.
But what struck me is that I have been walking and jogging in this parkland for the past year, and it has only really dawned on me this morning just how bad it is. The area looks totally unkempt. Grass isn’t being cut. Weeds are flourishing. The irrigation system is badly out of control. Signs and streetlights are broken and not being repaired. Once, this area was Lisbon’s pride and joy, and a sign of a great and positive future. Now it seems that nobody really cares. And it has taken me a full twelve months for the overall effect to sink in, and to realise that something is badly wrong.
Now that's true in life also. If we don’t look after ourselves, whether physically, or spiritually, the resultant decline doesn’t happen overnight. It can be very slow, almost imperceptible, but one day you wake up, and you realise how far you have fallen. Then the business of fixing things is all the more difficult. It is much much better when we can keep a close account on ourselves, especially when our work is caring for the lives of others. So easy to put all one’e attention into the spiritual and emotional health of others, and neglect you own self. I’m reminded of a little verse in the Song of Solomon, (1v6) which so well sums this reality up - “...Other vineyards, I have taken care of; My own I have neglected”
But what struck me is that I have been walking and jogging in this parkland for the past year, and it has only really dawned on me this morning just how bad it is. The area looks totally unkempt. Grass isn’t being cut. Weeds are flourishing. The irrigation system is badly out of control. Signs and streetlights are broken and not being repaired. Once, this area was Lisbon’s pride and joy, and a sign of a great and positive future. Now it seems that nobody really cares. And it has taken me a full twelve months for the overall effect to sink in, and to realise that something is badly wrong.
Now that's true in life also. If we don’t look after ourselves, whether physically, or spiritually, the resultant decline doesn’t happen overnight. It can be very slow, almost imperceptible, but one day you wake up, and you realise how far you have fallen. Then the business of fixing things is all the more difficult. It is much much better when we can keep a close account on ourselves, especially when our work is caring for the lives of others. So easy to put all one’e attention into the spiritual and emotional health of others, and neglect you own self. I’m reminded of a little verse in the Song of Solomon, (1v6) which so well sums this reality up - “...Other vineyards, I have taken care of; My own I have neglected”
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