Having Heart In A Sometimes Heartless World
Day 156 - A Half Loaf Kind Of Day
Scripture focus: Jesus says - "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:9-11 NIV
Pete (my husband) and I were teaching a group of tenth graders all they would ever need to know about the bible. We'd been at this project quite awhile. On this particular Sunday morning, we spent a great deal of time in Matthew 7 - but barely skimmed the surface of today's scripture focus. I love adolescents. They don't let you skim the surface. After class, one of our favorite trouble makers came up and challenged us on this very passage. He was pretty emotional. "You people really disappoint me." He said with exaggerated calm and exceedingly slow speech.
"Tell us more," we respond in unison.
"You completely blew off this passage on parents. I should've expected it from you. No one around here wants to deal with the truth! The truth is, my parents would give me a stone instead of bread; a snake instead of a fish. My parents don't give a rip about me. All they care about is making each other look bad and who is going to get to live in the house." (This young man's parental units were in the midst of a heated divorce.) I startled this kid by nodding my head in agreement. I didn't do it for effect - it was an expression of empathy.
"What? That's all you've got? You aren't going to tell me about how my folks are just confused right now, but that they really love me and want the best for me?"
"No, I'm not. I know your parents, but I don't really know whether they love you or not."
Silence.
"Wow. It sounds worse when I say it and you don't attack me or something. I thought you guys would defend them."
"I don't know enough to defend or accuse - and even if I did - that's not my job. But I do know from all you've been saying this year that your parents, for whatever reason, aren't giving you bread and fish at the moment. Whether or not that will continue, we'll have to wait and see."
"They try." He hangs his head, and proves my long held conviction that angry kids usually are more sad than mad.
"I know."
"This whole thing really sucks."
And it does. Big hearted people don't need to skim the surface of a painful truth; they can dig deep and find more profound truths and a better source of hope than mere mortals. May you dig deep as you seek to see life through the lens of God-vision goggles - in spite of, or perhaps because of, your suffering.
Recommended reading: 2 Samuel 22 in the morning: Acts 1 in the evening
No comments:
Post a Comment