Naomi's Notes - 3/20/05
I was 12; my brother was 8. We rarely got along. We lived in a big house which my family had converted into a mission chapel in Grand Island, New York.
Sometimes, my brother and I played together - or tolerated each other, at least - for a while. "War" was an ever-present threat.
I was the bossy older sister. He easily earned the label, "The Pest." I was still mad at him for decimating my doll collection when I was 5. (He'd done a lot since then to aggravate me, too.)
We weren't allowed to hit, but sometimes we'd shove each other a little. Mostly, we just argued, becoming quite adept at "murder-by-tongue." (Later, as a chubby teenager, I discovered the best way to control his pestering was to get him down and SIT on him until our parents arrived!)
He got home from school before I did. I didn't like the fact that I had no control over what he did to my "stuff" for an hour or two each day. He delighted in the opportunity - as long as Mom didn't catch him.
Walking home from the school bus stop one day, I could see that my bike was moved from where I'd left it the day before. "The Pest" had been at it again - how DARE he ride my bike!
Mad, I flung open the front door. My mother was playing the piano in the "auditorium" (our extra living room); "The Pest" was standing near her. Startled, they both looked up as I began my tirade.
Suddenly, without a word, he walked toward me, thrust something into my hand, and quickly left the room. I looked down and opened a card he had carefully made in school that day. Inside were scrawled the words, "I love you, sister."
Speechless, I looked up and silently shared one of those memorable moments with my mother, who was looking at me with teary eyes. I was a changed person.
Today, as I prepare my heart to enter Holy Week, this childhood memory prompts my reflection on God's transforming love. Throughout history, we mortals have given God a lot of reason for dismay: Adam & Eve's original sin; Israelites complaining on their way to the Promised Land; crucifixion of Jesus; dissention in the Early Church; world-wide wars and bombings (often "in the name of God"); rampant domestic violence; selfish, God-blaming "pity parties;" unkind words and deeds; …the list goes on and on.
Yet God's response to our humanity is always the same: "I created you - I love you." Ultimately it is only to the extent that we fully realize the depth of God's eternal love for us that we are truly changed persons.
"What wondrous love is this, O my soul…"
See you in worship this Sunday -
Naomi