I was watching my dog bury a bone, or maybe it was my running shoe again, I don’t know, but it got me to thinking about the parable of the seed as described in John 12:24-25: “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal” (The Message). Despite my growing belief that I was part of a larger plan, I still held on to anger, disappointment and sadness, among other things. I was trying to hold on to life selfishly, in a way that
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Ben, on the other hand, didn’t trust the giant critters enough to share a pool with them. His plastic four-inch shark in the tub full of suds, doing battle with the equally sized dinosaur, was all the swimming adventure he required. He was always so full of contradictions. But for John, to touch their smooth bodies, to hear them breath up close... He became captivated. And the captivation seemed to envelop not only him, but others in our vicinity. Dressed in our wetsuits provided by Sea World, I led him into the pool. People watched and smiled. Some, I heard, had tears in their eyes. The dolphins became less the attraction and John more so. He allowed his hand to be placed on the beautiful creatures as they were led to him. If Ben could see less well, would he have wanted to enter into the pool? How, I wondered, did seeing keep me from …show more content…
But my boys’ was extraordinarily uncommon, and the journey difficult. To walk alongside them required deliberate choice. And yet, something was happening. A symbiotic relationship seemed to be forming between my family and those around us. Prematurely, one young family (mine) faced death, but instead, chose life. And God entered into what was fleeting and it grew. It wasn’t death that attracted, but the life born out of seed being buried, then growing, feeding many. “... [P]lease don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given [you]... don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything... People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly...in hard times, tough times, bad times...in gentleness, holiness, and honest love...recognized by God; terrifically alive...refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all” [2 Corinthians 6 - The
Ben, on the other hand, didn’t trust the giant critters enough to share a pool with them. His plastic four-inch shark in the tub full of suds, doing battle with the equally sized dinosaur, was all the swimming adventure he required. He was always so full of contradictions. But for John, to touch their smooth bodies, to hear them breath up close... He became captivated. And the captivation seemed to envelop not only him, but others in our vicinity. Dressed in our wetsuits provided by Sea World, I led him into the pool. People watched and smiled. Some, I heard, had tears in their eyes. The dolphins became less the attraction and John more so. He allowed his hand to be placed on the beautiful creatures as they were led to him. If Ben could see less well, would he have wanted to enter into the pool? How, I wondered, did seeing keep me from …show more content…
But my boys’ was extraordinarily uncommon, and the journey difficult. To walk alongside them required deliberate choice. And yet, something was happening. A symbiotic relationship seemed to be forming between my family and those around us. Prematurely, one young family (mine) faced death, but instead, chose life. And God entered into what was fleeting and it grew. It wasn’t death that attracted, but the life born out of seed being buried, then growing, feeding many. “... [P]lease don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given [you]... don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything... People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly...in hard times, tough times, bad times...in gentleness, holiness, and honest love...recognized by God; terrifically alive...refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all” [2 Corinthians 6 - The