March 9
Brody is my seven year old nephew. For some reason he is fascinated by rope. I don’t know if this is a passing fancy or a lifelong interest. Since he was old enough to grasp, his tiny hands always had to have something in them whether it was spoons (no forks or knives were allowed), rulers or paint sticks (his dad is a painter). He was always carrying something around. Now it is rope. The way I see it, this fascination could develop into one of many careers; some of which would be honorable; cowboy, rock or mountain climber, boy scout leader, just to name a few.
Last week while he was visiting me he asked me for a piece of blue and white rope that was in the back of my truck. See what I mean? I told him I had yellow rope in my truck but I didn’t think I had blue and white rope. He insisted, so did I. He persisted, but I was sure I didn’t have blue and white rope in the back of my truck. He continued asking me about every 5 minutes. He is very persistent when it comes to rope these days. Finally I looked at him and said, Brody, you are very persistent and I appreciate that virtue. It will help you accomplish your goals in life. You won’t have many friends but you will get what you want.” Then I said, “Just because you are so persistent we are going to go look in the back of my truck for that blue and white rope.” However, I was certain it did not exist.
Normally the back of my truck is fairly well organized, but it has been a long cold winter so there were a variety of items strewn about including sandbags, de-icing tools, shovels, plastic sleds, and the assortment of my regular cadre of tools. I opened the back of the truck and immediately, and somewhat victoriously, pointed to the yellow rope very near the back of the truck. Brody was not distracted at all by that or any of the other aforementioned contents. He jumped up into the truck and started sorting; pulling; moving everything he could to get to what he knew was there. I was amazed at how he instinctively knew the approximate location of his goal. After about two minutes of activity he found his prize. He turned with a big smile and showed me a coiled up piece of blue and white rope.
Brody’s story reminded me of something very important today. It reminded me that we can often lose track of things in our life that are very important as we pile on and accumulate the responsibilities and demands and stuff of this life. Sometimes the really important stuff gets buried by the urgent or the necessary or the easy.
Psalm 68 reminds me of something very important. It says that God is, “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows. God sets the lonely in families and leads forth the prisoners with singing.”
Jesus said it this way. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Just want to say “Thank you” for partnering with us to care for the little “blue and white ropes” of this world. Sometimes they are buried but I hope they are never forgotten.
Dance with God
