Wisdom

As you may (or not) know, The West Wing is my favorite show (right up there with Buffy: the Vampire Slayer). Here's a little tale on wisdom & prayer & hearing the answers we think we should hear ...

Bartlet: I know it's hard to believe, but I prayed for wisdom.
Father Cavanaugh: And none came?
Bartlet: It never has. And I'm a little pissed off about that.
Father Cavanaugh:You know, you remind me of the man that lived by the river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. And that all the residents should evacuate their homes. But the man said, “I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.” The waters rose up. A guy in a row boat came along and he shouted, “Hey, hey you! You in there. The town is flooding. Let me take you to safety.” But the man shouted back, “I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.” A helicopter was hovering overhead. And a guy with a megaphone shouted, “Hey you, you down there. The town is flooding. Let me drop this ladder and I’ll take you to safety.” But the man shouted back that he was religious, that he prayed, that God loved him and that God will take him to safety. Well... the man drowned. And standing at the gates of St. Peter, he demanded an audience with God. “Lord,” he said, “I’m a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?” God said, “I sent you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?” [pause] He sent you a priest, a rabbi, and a Quaker, Mr. President. Not to mention his son, Jesus Christ. What do you want from him?

Looking for perfection

Wow. It's barely 9 a.m. and we've already had what I like to call an "ah-ha" moment. You probably know that DJ was at the beach earlier this week with my parents, but we're just now getting to clean out the suitcase & go through the beautiful seashells (and sand - lots & lots of sand) DJ brought home. And wow, did he bring home some fabulous shells ... but not the ones that I'd have brought home. I like to look for the perfect shell - the ones that have somehow made it to shore still whole, or if they're broken, small breaks that aren't that aren't noticeable. I also love to find pieces of shells that show off the perfect - hollowed out conks or sand dollars. But not my sweet boy. No, we were sitting down, going through the bag of sand and shells that he brought me. Pieces of shell, black rocks, pieces of rock. And with each piece he's telling what makes it so beautiful.

In the Christian faith, we talk often of brokeness & being made whole in Christ. We talk of the imperfections that through faith in Christ are made beautiful. But I'm not sure how often we mean what we say. I mean, if it were true that we understand the heart of Christ, that we truly see imperfection as He sees it, would we be searching out the shore for the perfect shell? And I happen to know that I'm not the only one out there seeking perfection - in things bigger than seashells. But this morning, between asking for Lucky Charms and watching cartoons, my sweet boy reminded me of how I believe Christ sees us - broken, but still beautiful, still worth salvaging. Worth bringing home.

"... because with one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy ..."
Hebrews 10:14