What are you driving at? Think about it. Go a little deeper now... Aristotle says - first pages of his Ethics - that we are driven by 'happiness'. So what makes you happy?
What is the 'happy' you are striving to build? Is it a big, big house with a big yard and a strong fence...? Well, if it is, what's outside that fence? Have you really built anything other than your own, little hiding place in this dark world? And are you sure the darkness is on the outside of that fence? Jesus said, 'Do not store up for yourself treasure on earth, that moth and dust destroy, and thieves break in and steal.' (Mt 6:19) Jesus also said, 'What does it benefit a man, to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his soul?' (Mark 8:36)
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I got married quite young (for our generation, that is). I was 20, and my wife was 19.
I remember how the idea of getting married was a type of a hiding place for me. It was not just company and intimacy, it was a new purpose, direction, and for lots of life's demands, a legitimate excuse: 'Sorry, I can't, I need to get home to the wife...' Truth is, marriage - and kids and friends and fam' - have served me well in life for hiding. For safety. For protection and comfort and peace and rest. Brothers have been there, parents have provided, my wife stood with me, kids smiled and loved. Love towards me has hidden me. David wrote this of God: 'You are my hiding place.' (Ps 32:7) Jesus pointed us to 'Love God' as the most important commandment, and when grounded here - truly expended in loving God - Jesus called us to pour it over others. 'The second most important commandment is this, to love your neighbor as yourself.' (Mt 22:36-40). The lower you've been (any story, any genre), the greater the triumph. This is not 'a' story, this is 'the' story. This is the heart beat of any and every victory in life. But it's even deeper than this...
There is a victory 'in' the brokenness. You know this is true. You have glimpsed the 'spirit' in the eyes of the suffering, and seen and known that the only difference between them and you is that they stand closer to the edge of the inevitable eternity. We all know we stand to lose absolutely everything one day, and the poor in our midst hold that truth clearer in their vision, and stand nearer to its Redeemer. (James 2:5) The truest of triumphs is in and through brokenness. The ultimate expression, vindication and validation of this, is the triumph of life over death, by falling victim to crucifixion. We are told that Jesus became poor to make us rich. (2 Cor 8:9) And this is what he offers us now: peace, forgiveness, eternal life. 'Anyone who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life.' (John 5:24) When my first child was about 10 days old, we were living in Donnycarney, Dublin, Ireland. A wet, windy day I was walking him in the stroller and the perennial 'Mrs Bird' - who was older than Methuselah and more enigmatic than Melchizedek - peered over her hedge and said,
'Remember, he's not yours. He is on loan from God, and only for a little while.' That moment I actually felt a wave of relief come over me. As parents we feel overwhelmed at the challenge of protecting our child from the woes of this world, and yet making them strong, able to face into, overcome... We do everything we can to protect them, inform them, teach mercy, teach consequence, that some things really do not matter, that some things really do matter... And then what when things veer off? I now have 2 teens, and 3 younger than that. It's hard to drive straight! Just today I found myself really pondering the question, 'Who am I parenting for?' Seriously, what if one's ideals for a child get lost in life? Do you stop parenting? No. So whose cause are you now driving, if not your own? Ephesians 3:14 reinforces Mrs. Bird's word of advice, and blows a word of caution and freedom through the soul. It says that God is not only our Father, but the one from whom every father derives its name. My cause as a father is ultimately to shepherd, chaperone, love and guide 'my' child - because my child is not my own. My child is the creation, the offspring, the beloved child of Father God - a gift to and through me, on loan for only a little while. |
AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
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