“Tan Tuddy!”

“Tan Tuddy (Tan Toodie)!”, the Jamaican teacher calls to his student. The phrase is common to hear in the crowded classroom where one small desk accommodates three students. The language is the native tongue, Patwa, and means “stand sturdy” as in “pay attention and don’t slouch”.

Because of the crowded conditions and the busy activity of others, it’s easy for the students to become distracted and miss what the teacher’s about.

Seems to me to be the same way in my world. Life is chaotic, busy, and stressful. Many contradicting voices are speaking to me. In this busy and troubled world, it’s easy to be distracted from what really matters. If I don’t “stand sturdy”, I miss what God is doing in my life and how he might want to use me. I can think of many times I need to hear the Holy Spirit say to me, “Tan Tuddy! Stand sturdy, pay attention and don’t slouch.”

When faced with temptation. “Tan Tuddy! I always give you a way to escape.”

When adrift in a sea of busyness. “Tan Tuddy! You will miss what I desire.”

When my faith is tested. “Tan Tuddy! Perseverance will finish the work I’ve begun.”

When the world mocks my beliefs. “Tan Tuddy! I’ve overcome the world.”

When I feel alone and abandoned. “Tan Tuddy! You’re always in the presence of God.”

When I’m faced with tragedy. “Tan Tuddy! They always come with a gift from me.”

When I’m busy worrying about tomorrow. “Tan Tuddy! You will miss the grace I have for you today.”

“Foreboding about the future should not be indulged in except with due submission and resignation to the holy will of God, and this practice ought to have for aim, not so much the making of formal acts as the keeping of our hearts in a certain habitual state of readiness by which it seems to say to God every moment and in every circumstance, ‘Fiat, fiat! Yes, I desire and accept all, only preserve me from all sin. Yes, my heavenly Father, always, yes.’ This ‘Yes,’ uttered with all the heart contains the greatest acts and contains the greatest sacrifices.” Abandonment to Divine Providence, Jean-Pierre de Caussade

“Tan Tuddy! Stand sturdy, pay attention and don’t slouch!”