Challenging Times
We recently had our grandkids from Alabama for a week. Our son’s three kids; Emmylou – eighteen months, Ronan – three years, Laken – one week shy of five years old. I don’t have to tell you at fifty seven years old, I was exhausted at the end of the week, but fully blessed to have spent the week with those precious kids.
The oldest, Laken has always been a handful, he is on the autism spectrum, and takes after his father in being 100 mph Every Waking Moment. G-Paw loves him to death, but he requires a ton of attention and focus which can be exhausting.
Wisdom of a 5-year-old
A quality I have always found exceptional in our oldest grandson is his lack of fear of people. He has never met a stranger. When we come rolling up to the playground and he jumps out and see’s other kids, you can expect one of two things. He is going to take off straight to them and begin talking and playing with them, or he is going yell out, “Hey guys, I’ll be there to play in a minute”. He knows no strangers.
To a grandpa trying to ensure our grandkids are protected and make it back to their parents safe and sound, this can be concerning and unnerving. What if he runs up to someone and he gets taken? what if the kids treat him badly and he gets hurt? All of these thoughts run through your head, but what I have found is that God is using this little guy to teach this old man some new tricks. Let me share one such learning.
Chick-Fil-A
GiGi and I had decided to take the kids to get chicken nuggets and let them run off some energy at our local Chick-Fil-A. They have an indoor playground, so it was perfect in the hot Texas afternoon. In the playroom were a couple of other kids, a young hispanic boy about six years old and a young Indian girl named Gia, four years old. Laken went straight in and started playing with them as if they had known them all their lives. Ronan soon joined and they were having a great time until it was time to eat.
Profound insight
After eating the boys were off playing again while GiGi and I tended to the baby girl, and cleaned up the area. As I sat there I noticed the Gia’s father was in the playroom along with his elderly mother. They were talking with Gia and Laken. I thought it a good idea to go in and check on everything just to be sure all was well. As I entered Laken was showing Gia’s father his shoes and socks, telling him all about his adventures with G-Maw and G-Paw.
I introduced myself as G-Paw and he began to tell me what a kind and loving grandson we have. He said as soon as he and his mother walked in the playroom, Laken hugged them and started talking to them. I found myself explaining to them, his condition and how he knows no strangers. How he has no perception of personal space, etc. God began to speak to me in that moment. What I was trying to explain away as abnormal is what He calls normal. God doesn’t want us to approach people with preconceived conditions, or prejudices. He wants us to approach them exactly as He does. Through this five-year-old in a playroom in Chick-Fil-A, God opened my eyes to a profound truth.
Profound Truth
Most everyone knows what a “Good Samaritan” is, and many can tell you the story from Luke, chapter 10. What if I told you that the focus of the parable is not the hero, but the “unneighborly” in the story. Remember the question posed by the lawyer to Jesus, was “who is my neighbor?”. Jesus answered the question with a question posed by the parable. Who in the parable is not neighborly? He was calling out the indwelling prejudices that keep us from seeing someone as good in the first place. In the parable a Priest and a Levite passed the injured traveler by, it was a Samaritan that stopped to help. Samaritans were hated by the Jewish people, considered lower class. Imagine how the parable stung the listeners. You dont have to wonder too hard how they received it, as when Jesus asked the Lawyer who was the neighbor to the injured man, he would not even say Samaritan, he replied “the one who helped him”.
Jesus was pointing the finger straight at the prejudices and bias of the crowd. The premise, I believe is this; look into yourself, into your subconscious bias’s and learn to see your neighbor as anyone in need. Regardless of religion, sexual orientation, skin color, beliefs or any other divisional characteristic. Laken helped me see what it means to approach people in this manner. No preconceived notions or subconscious bias, just someone God loves.
Bringing it all home
I have been reading a great book by Mike Donehey, called Grace in the Gray. Fantastic book, you all should read it, he will challenge your thinking. In it he asks the question, “Who is your Samaritan? Who do you think you get to write off?” Take a minute to ponder that question. Who do you think shouldn’t have a voice? What news station tells only lies? What group is unworthy of God’s love? Who is unfit for God to love? Maybe a better way to say it is this; “Whom could Jesus have put in the story that would offend me?” If we are honest with ourselves, there is likely many that we would list.
In conclusion, the moral of the Good Samaritan parable is that God’s goodness can manifest in and thru anyone at any time. With that truth in mind there is one more line I want to quote from Mike Donehey’s book. In it he says “we need to resist writing off anyone. We can be radically different, but still radically committed.” If we are to ever resemble the bride Christ envisioned all those years ago, when in John 17:23 He said “I in them, and You in Me. That they may be brought to complete unity”. We must learn to uncover and deal with our engrained prejudices and subconscious bias. Seeing and loving one another as Christ loves the world. What a profound lesson initiated by a five-year-olds actions. Love that little guy.
Thanks for playing along
Remember all of life is ministry!
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