"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and the pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis, all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." Frederick Buechner

One mother I know looks forward to the time in the summer when her children become bored. She has never been one to enroll her children in multiple camps and enrichment programs. She relies on the swimming pool, the library and the bounty of "playing outside" to shape the experience of her children’s summer. Of course she recognizes that she has the luxury of doing this. Her work schedule is flexible and her means sufficient.

I thought of this her yesterday when I came home and greeted our younger son. When I asked how he was he replied: "Bored." He has finished the new Harry Potter, the things of early summer that seemed so fulfilling and exciting have worn thin, friends are a little tired of one another, so he’s "bored". I have to admit to feeling a little glee at this. It means he’s had a long enough break from school, he’s ready for something new, something more challenging. Too often, it feels to me as if our children….we….go from one exciting, stimulating experience to the next.

There is value in boredom. Often it is the place of creativity. Boredom provides the lens to see those mountain top moments in a new light, to celebrate them more fully. Boredom can lead to new additions to tried and true recipes…..a side trip down a never traveled road…..the choice of a biography over the always chosen novel…..the act of simply enjoying staring into the middle distance, seeing the intricacies of spider webs on familiar flowers and fences.

Buecher says "all moments are key moments", even those born of boredom. Here is an invitation to curl up with your boredom today. Rest in it, wallow in it, savor it. I have no doubt it might lead you to grace.