Weighing Heavy
We are working our way through the ten words of grace in Exodus chapter 20. Yup, they are the ten commandments. That usually makes people a bit uneasy. Kind of like, "Nobody is going to tell me what I can and cannot do!" Especially God--if there is one. Well, I find that the older i get the more important all of this is to me. In fact, I am a bit surprised how many layers of meaning there are and is. It seems to change as I change through the years. Last week we talked about sabbath and living a sabbath way of life. If last week was about recognizing time as a gift. Then "Honoring your father and mother" is about the realization that life is a gift. I think it is cosmically humorous that my belly button contains the wisdom of ages. My little "innie" tells me that I have come from another and that I am not my own god. Further, it tells me that someplace in my unconscious collective memory, is the ability to remember that I was taken care of, diapers and all. I was born 8 weeks early so life really is a gift for me. This word "honor" means to "weigh heavy." When I honor my parents, it weighs heavy on, into and through me. It is weighing more and more heavy on me that my life is a gift. When we realize that our lives are a gift from God and our parents who have gone before we have the space to become a gift to those who will remain after we are gone, and we discover that someplace in that continuum of journey we have become people who truly care.
A personal reflection…The older I get the more profound this word is to me in relationship to my parents and to my children. I was recently asked where do you see yourself in ten years? I confess that there has always been a desire to be famous. You know to write a book, to have a huge megachurch--to be famous --a celebrity of sorts. I let the person know that I have since given up that dream. It was the wrong dream, at least for me anyway. Maybe not because there is anything really wrong with that, there are people who are famous in a pop-culture kind of way. I told the person this, "I want to be famous for loving my wife, being a faithful Pastor who preaches the word faithfully, teaches the word with creativity as best as I know how, to administer the sacraments, and praying and loving people. I also want to bounce my grandchildren on my lap and giggle with them and stay loving and supportive to my own three daughters." That is where I see myself in ten years. I was surprised that I became choked up in the middle of the image as it seared into my mind. In fact, I am tearing up right now just typing this blog. Maybe that is what it means to honor my father and mother, my children, the saints who have gone before and most importantly, God.
