Real Life

Reading the Old Testament of the Bible is very much like watching a never-ending tennis volley. In one verse the people are praising God and living according to his will, and in the very next verse, they are out partying it up with whores and drunken revelry. It goes on like this, back and forth, for hundreds of pages. I used to shake my head at these people for being so thick-headed, so utterly blind, so stupid, to have God right there in their midsts and yet missing out on His gift, His presence, His protection, and his Grace. What more did they need to witness to fall on their knees and believe? To hold tightly in the storms of life?

Yet I have found that I am very much like these people. Thick-headed, blind, stupid. I recognize myself in their actions. I am as weak and as insecure in relationships in my own life as they were in theirs. In my case, the most recent lesson came from my daughter. After some time apart from her without contact, I convinced myself that she did not want to spend time with me, that I wasn't a priority with her, that I was a burden that wasn't worth shouldering. It wasn't just a passing thought, but something that had become deeply engrained in my fabric.

Fool that I was, I should have appreciated the relationship that I have with my daughter. To trust her. To love her without condition. Yet, I did not. When the storms began to blow, I let go, convinced that it was not worth fighting and holding on and being selfless and patient. So the Old Testament, it's a lot like real life? You bet.