Monday, December 19, 2011

pondering the ox of passion and the ass of prejudice

"Mom! Mom! Sarah is going to throw away my Link costume!" Frantic words from my 11 year old, concerning his 9 year old sister's plan for his most prized possession.

Enter Sarah, as if on cue, carrying said costume in her arms with a look of angry determination on her face.  Tossing said costume in the garbage was the greatest weapon she could come up with.

I didn't have to ask why.

"Aaron says the Bible was written at the first Christmas and it WASN'T! It was NOT written yet, AIR-RUN! It hadn't even HAPPENED yet!"

"I said most of the Bible was written!  The Old Testament stuff was all written down.  That IS most of the Bible!  Have you ever looked at the Bible???"

That's when I heard myself say these words:

"I did not teach you the Bible so you could fight and hurt one another over who is right or wrong about this or that.  I taught you the Bible so that you will love one another!"

I didn't add "dammit" - my facial expression said it for me.

Merry bleeping Christmas!

Earlier this morning I'd read these words from Evelyn Underhill,

...human nature is like a stable inhabited by the ox of passion and the ass of prejudice; animals which take up a lot of room and which I suppose most of us are feeding on in the quiet.  And it is there between them, pushing them out, that Christ must be born and in their very manger He must be laid - and they will be the first to fall on their knees before Him. Sometimes Christians seem far nearer to those animals than to Christ in His simple poverty, self-abandoned to God.

My kids need to be reminded of this.
I need to be reminded of this.

Lord, have mercy!

And in despair I bowed my head:  
'There is no peace on earth, ' I said  
'For hate is strong, and mocks the song 
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'  
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:  
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;  
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,  
With peace on earth, good will to men.' 
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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