TEACH ME TO PRAY : Lent is a welcoming hug from a forgiving God... I am reflecting on your parables, Lord. I made a count of them today. “The sower and the seeds The grain of wheat The weeds in the grain The net The seed growing secretly The mustard seed The leaven The budding fig tree The barren fig tree The birds of heaven The flowers of the field The vultures and the carcass The tree and its fruits The weather signs Master and servant The servant frustrated with authority The waiting servants The laborers in the vineyard The money in trust – the talents The lamp The body’s lamp The discarded salt The patch and the wine skins The householder’s treasure The dishonest steward The defendant The unforgiving official The rich fool The wicked wine dressers The two builders The two debtors The hidden treasure The pearl of great price The closed door The doorkeeper The thief in the night and faithful servants The strong man bound The unoccupied house The importunate neighbor The son’s request The unjust judge The Pharisee and the publican The sulking children The arrogant guest The bridegroom’s friend The bridegroom’s attendants The bride’s girlfriends The tower builder and the warring king The wedding feast and the unwilling guests The wedding garment The rich man and Lazarus The Good Samaritan The apprentice son and the slave son The lost coin The lost sheep The shepherd, the thief and the doorkeeper The doctor and the sick The sheep and the goats….” The total number of your parables surprises me. By extension, you as their author and source amaze me. “By telling stories, Jesus isn’t somehow putting sugar in a spoon to make the medicine go down a bit easier. These stories are the medicine. These stories are an extension and explanation of Jesus’ revolutionary ministry. These stories show us that things are not as they appear. Our tidy, well-packaged ideas about spirituality, faith, and reality shatter when confronted by Christ and the God he represents.” (Ronnie McBrayer) I feel like asking: Where did you learn so much, Lord? Who taught you such superb skill of spinning stories? Were the synagogues of Jerusalem your earliest schools? The Pharisees your professors? The High Priests your first tutors? Did Zachariah and Elizabeth give you certain introductions? Did Joseph, your foster father, teach you, even as he apprenticed you in his carpentry? Alternatively, and more validly, was it Blessed Mother Mary your initial teacher in parables? In most cultures, children learn their earliest and best stories at their mothers’ laps and they deposit and retain that wealth in their subconscious for future use. One of your parables grips my heart: The parable of the Prodigal Son. Let me rename it: the Parable of the Forgiving Father, as it is more a mirror of the dad, than the wandering son. Your phrasing of the scene is just breathtaking: “While the younger son, the squanderer of wealth, was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw him arms around him and kissed him” (Luke, 15:11). What is Lent, dear Lord - to me? A wanderer from your house? It is nothing but “your running to me, throwing your arms around me and kissing me”, even “I am still a long way off”. Nothing but a hug of forgiving love? AMEN. ( GITANJALI A. BERNARD ) NEW YORK.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:30:16 +0000
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