Upon completion of his military service, a young man retuned to his family and the community of his youth with a wife from a different culture. Blending in and reestablishing old relationships proved difficult. Finally he concluded relocation would be in everyone’s best interests. Accordingly, he took his family and moved to a distant state. He promised his parents he would visit often. He did return shortly (alone) to attend his father’s funeral and renewed the promise to his widowed mother.
The years passed and the mother’s health began to fail. Her other children nurtured her and cared for all her needs. She took little note of the love and affection shown by them because her mind was occupied by the other son—the prodigal. He did not call, he did not visit, he did not write! Yet, she cherished each flowery birthday card and each elaborate Christmas card always containing a promise to visit soon. Figuratively speaking, she kept a lamp trimmed and burning in the window as her eyes scanned the horizon for signs of her son’s return.
Finally, the long awaited visit came. He stepped off the bus and greeted his brother. Together, they mounted the steps and went inside to see their mother—at the funeral home. The opportunity for reconciliation and the mending of a broken relationship had been lost.
The beginning of a new year is a good time for all of us to examine our relationships. Has pride or stubbornness caused us to delay mending a relationship with someone? More seriously, is our relationship with God a little frayed? If the answer is “yes” in either or both cases, some self-examination and action may be in order. There is no time like the present—it’s always later than we think.
Anonymous
1 comment:
I feel for the pastor, as I know how he felt. As a young pastor, I went to baptize a lady, who had admitted she was afraid. I had just baptized a huge man; but she was different. She just went rigid, and I panicked. I took my right foot, knocked her off her feet, and she went down, along with me the pastor. Each time I tried to raise her, her feet would slide, I panicked, and could just see the morning headlines, "Preacher drowns member trying to baptize her. I left her slide to the bottom of the tank, and pulled with all my might, and up she came. She blew some water from her nose, and shouted, Hallaluha in a great loud voice. I never knew if she was happy with the baptism or just the fact that I got her back up.
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