Courage Every Day

Aug7

Lectionary Reading Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

I have never attended a church that used a lectionary to govern the weekly scripture reading and sermon but Rachel Held Evans invited everyone to blog once a week on one of the lectionary readings and I thought I would give it a try.

This week, it is the story of Joseph’s brothers selling him into the slavery which eventually landed him in Egypt. According to verses 3 and 4, Joseph’s brothers hated him because their father loved him more than all the others. The famed varicolored tunic along with other things just added to their hatred. Joseph was the child of his old age and the son of his favorite wife. I would like to look at the two main characters in this reading, Joseph and Reuben.

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn and as such, should have inherited the responsibility as head of the family upon Jacob’s death. He should have been the one the other brothers looked to for leadership. Earlier in the book, we saw Simeon and Levi murder every male in a village, the other brothers coming behind to loot. Reuben did not provide any leadership there. Jacob was sorely displeased with his boys but they took little notice. Reuben had also slept with his father’s concubine as a sign of defiance of his father’s authority.

Apparently, Reuben’s conscience did engage when it came to the thought of killing one of his brothers though, one of his blood. Reuben suggested that they just toss him in a pit with no water and let him die of his own accord. Reuben secretly thought to come back later to rescue Joseph. Unfortunately for both Reuben and Joseph, Judah suggested they make some money from him and sell him as a slave. (This is the Judah that became the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ.) Evidently, they did this while Reuben was not around because in verse 29, Reuben returned to the pit to retrieve Joseph and he was not there. What if Reuben had had the courage to say and do the right thing the first time against the prevailing hatred of the others? If he had said to his brothers, “No, this is wrong; we will not cause harm to our brother,” their father would have been saved many years of pain and heartache.

Please don’t say that if Reuben had prevented the deed, Joseph would not have been in place to take care of his family in Egypt. That serves to justify the actions of the brothers. God always wants us to do right in every situation. God’s providence and care are not dependent on our actions or inactions, right or wrong.

The first thing we learn about Joseph is that at the age of seventeen, he pastured flocks with his half-brothers, the sons of the concubines, and gave a bad report of them to their father. Later, Jacob sends Joseph out to check on his brothers and the flocks, wearing his beautiful varicolored tunic. The verses not included in the reading tell of Joseph’s two dreams that his brothers, father, and mother would bow down to him. His father rebuked him for this but remembered the dream.

The entire story of Joseph gives us to believe that Joseph was a righteous follower of God, that he told these dreams in all innocence without any pride or pomposity. But how did these dreams, his coming out to check on his brothers, his very visual sign of his father’s favoritism, and his reporting on his brothers come across to them? Am I saying that their crime against him was his own doing or that he deserved it? No, I am not. All parents should be aware of the effects of favoritism and do everything in their power to prevent sibling animosity so Jacob bears some blame here. But, my main point is that we can say things or do things innocently without ever having a thought that the attitude that comes across is not the attitude we are feeling; but that attitude that comes across can be just as devastating as if it were real. I challenge you to ask your friends and family what attitudes you exude.

I pray that we all will have the courage to do right at the first opportunity because we may not always get that second chance to make it right and that we will have the courage to examine how we present ourselves to the world as Christians.

 

Pride is my greatest failing

Jul26

I had such expectations for my children. They were going to grow up to be Christian as I am. They were going to love God as I do and go into the ministry as I had wanted to do at one time.

Imagine my surprise when they developed different ideas. I thought it was going well until they hit high school. I never had as much control as I thought I did. I spent many years with a guilty conscience and wondering what I did wrong. I apologized to God over and over for allowing it to happen.

Years ago, I accepted the fact that my children are what they are, precious human beings that God gave to my care for a short time. I have never stopped loving and enjoying them as they are and for what they have become. But it has been just recently that God has brought home to me the arrogance I displayed in ever thinking that I might have a final say. It says a lot about me that I considered my influence so great and unassailable. Pride is my greatest failing.

From the Way Back journal 3

Jul7

July 7, 1992

More Adventures with Three Kids

Today, I took my children horseback riding. At first, I thought it was going to be a disaster but it turned out well. Katie rode with me and I will never ride two in a single saddle again. I don’t think Katie will either.

Our horses’ names were E.T. (mine), Joker (Sean), and Comanche (Christy). Firstly, our horses didn’t want to leave the stable. When we finally got them to go, it was hard for all of us to turn the horses without pulling back on the reins.

There seemed to be a pecking order. Joker had to be in front, then E.T. with Comanche bringing up the rear. Just as in bicycles, Christy was behind. I think that suited her just fine. Her being on a beast she seemed unable to control made her nervous.

Katie lost her hat twice and wanted to get down to get it. I knew I would never get her back on if she did, so I got down. E.T. realizing I was in control while on his back, also realized I was less so on the ground. He would start up in his chosen direction when I tried to get back on. I made it. I also had to get off to hand Christy her reins. I think I had some hand in her losing them too. For a while, we were confused.

When Sean finally learned the signals for turning and stopping, and got the hang of holding the knot close to the mane, he seemed to control his just fine.

If Katie gets her own horse next time, we will need at least one and preferably two other adult experienced riders.

From the Way Back journal 2

Jun23

June 23, 1992

Do Everything at Least Once

Today was Operation Save the Tadpoles. Christy and Ashley found tadpoles yesterday in a mud hole. One good hot dry day the puddle will dry up and all the polliwogs will die.

It was very confusing. Christy brought home twenty to thirty tadpoles, wanting to keep them all.

“There’s no way we can keep twenty to thirty tadpoles!” I insisted.

We went to the lake to get water, then decided to return them to their birthplace until we found out what to feed them. That was when I found that their home was a mud hole.

“Operation Tadpole Rescue is commencing!” I cried throughout the house at 07:00 the next morning. I turned on every light in the house. We got on our bikes laden with jars, water thermoses and a tea strainer. Off we went.

Oh how muddy it was! We had to park the bikes about a quarter mile away and walk. We reached the pond and after much scraping around, collected several hundred tadpoles. We collected some clear water to keep a few for pets. Everyone understood that we would have to release them as soon as they became frogs.

Finally, covered in mud from nose to toes, we hiked back to our bikes and decided to take our charges on over to the pond. We should never have done it. I was so grouchy when we got there that the kids stayed far away and picked me a bouquet of wild flowers. Sean had already stirred up the mud in the pond so I couldn’t see through the water. The tadpoles weren’t moving in the jars and I had wanted to see them swim away in the pond but I saw nothing. It was an anticlimactic end to a morning’s hard exertions. I felt horribly let down. Ah well, one is not often rewarded for sacrifice. My only consolation is that our pets started moving around again after we got home and still.

Burden of Proof – The Magic Table

May20

Recently, a Facebook friend of mine posted this to me in a discussion thread.

If I claim to my friends that I have a magic table that you cannot see or feel, they would say to me, correctly, “Prove it.” You claim that there is a being that no one can see. I say, “Prove it. The burden of proof is on you.”

Let’s change this a bit to an experience that many people have had, pain.

Let’s say you have pain in your back. It is debilitating. Sometimes, you can’t move the pain is so bad. So, you go to the doctor. The doctor checks you out and says, “I can’t find anything wrong with you. Take these pills and rest for a few days.”

The first time this happens, you take the pills, and rest. It does not get better. You go back to the doctor. He does an MRI, x-ray, and blood work. All the results come back and the doctor calls you to say, “There is nothing wrong with you. It’s your imagination.”

“NO! It is not my imagination. I hurt. Something is wrong!”

You know something is wrong. Just because the doctor can’t see anything in the tests, does not mean that your pain does not have a cause. That pain is real.

Christians, at least some of us, experience God as a reality, a positive reality, not as a voice such as the product of schizophrenia, but as the presence, the comfort, the peace that fills our lives. We cannot hand that to you for you to touch. We cannot paint it with colors for you to see.

We can talk about the statistical improbability of DNA arranging itself into sentient beings, or the temperatures or force being exactly right for our universe to have come about, but you have already rejected those arguments (illogically in my opinion). All we can do is describe the presence and tell you how you can have it. We do this because we love you and want everyone to experience the inner peace that knowing God brings. To take that away from us puts the burden of proof on you.

Please read The Scandinavian Sceptic. It is rather long and some points are better than others but the good ones are good, and… he gives references.

 

note: This post deals only with burden of proof.