Skip to main content

Somewhere Over The Rainbow


“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, (Matthew 6:9)
 
          I've written about God as the Father before, so I was going to skip this one but coincidentally, the sermon was about a father. You know the father I'm talking about, the one whose eldest boy sang in the choir, helped on the farm, helped little old ladies across the street, and got straight As in school. He even made earned his Eagle Scout award. His younger boy though, he was another story. Just about the time that the boys were supposed to take over Dad's farm, the younger one pulled Dad aside and said, "This just isn't for me. Give me the money my part of the inheritance would bring. I'm moving to the city." In case no one has ever explained this to you, that money was supposed to be his after his father died. In other words, he was effectively saying, "Drop Dead, Dad!"
          So, this father makes a few deals and hands Son #2 one third of the value of his estate and watches as his boy leaves for "bright lights, big city." Curiously, this is what I'm hearing once again about my home town. "There's nothing worth staying for. The town is dead, the only way to make it is to move to where the action is." Our society is filled with younger sons. They are sure when they get to the big city, somehow things will be easier. The opportunities will appear. I'm not wishing anything bad on anyone, but how often, when we are drawn to leave for greater things, do we end up in the pig sty?
         Even among those who "make it," how often is it a gilded pig sty. There is a degree program I think would be very interesting, but in order to find a job, graduates must go to a big city, and work 12-16 hours per day every day. I might make great money and have a nice house, but at what price to my soul? I've had some pig sty jobs.
         The good news is that the father was not only willing to forgive, but looking for the opportunity. There was a home to go home to. If you've been lured to the "big city" only to find yourself in a pig sty... go home. Go home to your Father. He's waiting. When your "somewhere over the rainbow" world collapses into a pile of manure, go home to the Father who will welcome you with open arms.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more