Naaman The Syrian Leper

Naaman the Syrian Leper

2 Kings 5:1-14

Karl Evans

Everyone has their own heroes. Men and woman, past and present, offer themselves as models for greatness in life. Some are heroic as they overcome terrible forces stacked against them. Some stand out as ethical and moral lighthouses for the troubled seas of life.

Naaman is one of my own personal heroes. It is not that he was such a brave man. I am sure he was a military genius. He may have been very faithful to the Syrian gods, and even to his own culture.

Rather than these, though, Naaman had a very serious personal problem. His skin was the problem. This was not a race thing, or ethnic. Naaman’s skin problem was the several splotches of unusual colors on his skin.

No one knew what manner of leprosy this was. In fact, no one even guessed these patches of blue and purple and red skin might not even be the disease we now know as Hansen’s Disease. They might have been birthmarks, or psoriasis, or even a skin cancer.

But this did not matter. Society treated all these as the same malady. Any continuing skin blemish was simply leprosy. Any leprosy was the result of any of a few problems.

It could be a simple matter of faithlessness. Perhaps the Syrian god is angry at Naaman for some sin of his ancestors. Naaman may have accidentally knocked over an icon during a visit to a temple in rural Syria.

Naaman’s leprosy may have stemmed from the curse of a witch during a campaign in India, or China, or Greece. So many possibilities. But it really did not matter. Naaman had a disease. He was unclean before the Syrian god.

Naaman was fortunate, though. He was the leader of the Syrian army. We can assume that his skin problems arose late in life. He had probably already found his way to the top of the leadership pyramid, or close to it. At the very least, he was able to hide his blemishes from those around him until he neared the apex of the leadership councils of the Syrians.

If Naaman had shown any weakness, he would have been destroyed. In highly competitive industries, such as military and religious organizations, even a minor weakness is a death sentence. Men who would take lives of royalty without hesitation could surely sink a knife into the heart of a lowly army private who displayed marks of leprosy.

But the commander of the nation’s armies! That was different. Every commander had a guard company around him to protect him from his personal and corporate enemies. These men would risk their own lives to protect their leader from assassination plots and long knives. Even should an assassin make it through the defensive cordon, that assassin would be dead in moments.

But only someone in Naaman’s position could afford that protection. Many men had to gather around him constantly to give him that shield.

But even this armor was not enough for Naaman. This mighty military leader, the man saluted by the whole Syrian army, wanted only one thing desperately. One thing brought him to tears as he climbed into bed every night.

It was his skin. Naaman wanted nothing so much as he wanted rid of those angry red, blue and purple marks on his skin. Oh! To be able to shed his shirt and throw himself into the river with the lowest of his soldiers when they took their bivouac in strange lands. But such was not to be.
So Namaan could only protect himself from the evil-doers of his men.

Now it happened one day that Naaman and his army defeated an army that included mercenaries from many countries. Early in the morning as the dew began to settle on the bodies of slain soldiers, not yet buried, Naaman walked around the battlefield. His walk allowed him to survey the ragged remains of both armies.

Namaan’s own army was in pretty good shape. It had been a vastly superior force on the field. The survivors of the defeated army could only bow or salute as he walked by with his guard. These survivors included a young girl, child bride of one of the now-dead mercenaries.

As Naaman approached her and the body of her young husband, the girl, Qila, did a most unexpected thing. Qila rose from preparing the body of her man for burial. She calmly stepped directly into the path of Naaman and his guards. The armored men, alert for any hostile action from the defeated army, quickly drew their swords and leveled their spears for action against a single, widowed, unarmed fifteen year old Samarian girl.

Naaman’s face showed his puzzlement over her intent, but then he gestured for his troops to lower their weapons. As they did, she cooly walked toward him with her hands open in front of her. She came close, then stopped a few feet away. Naaman spoke first.

"Tell me, girl, why you risk death by stopping me from my walk. You know I need no excuse to have you killed. But you are young and beautiful. I need to bring to my wife a present from this war. That present will be you. You can come to my home, and serve my wife. You will spend your days making my wife more beautiful.

Qila answered slowly, but with certainty in her voice. "Sir, my God knows you are an honorable man. You have been gracious and compassionate in your victories. That is very good. I am content."

So Naaman brought Qila home with him to Damascus as a present for his wife. She immediately began her duties in Naaman’s household. Early in the next morning Qila helped Naaman’s wife with her bath. Presently she spoke openly with her mistress.

"Your husband’s body bears the marks of disease. It is a disease that keeps you both awake at night. This disease even divides you from your family. It is a terrible burden for you."

"Because he is compassionate with God’s people, my God wishes him to be healed of this disease. If only my lord would visit the prophet Elisha who is in Samaria! The great god of the Hebrews will cure my lord of his leprosy!"

Naaman spoke to his king about the girl, asking permission to visit Elisha. Naaman’s king sent the king of Israel appropriate gifts, along with a letter of introduction. The letter told of Naaman’s disease, and the promise of the young Samarian girl.

The king of Israel nearly panicked. "Am I a god, able to give life or death? This mighty king sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? I believe he is trying to start a quarrel with me."
But Elisha heard about the message, and how the king of Israel panicked at being asked to heal in the name of the Lord of the Universe. Elisha asked that Naaman be brought to him.

Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and his armed guard. They rode up in a great charge and wheeled to a stop in front of Naaman’s house. It was only a little distance from the River Jordan. The horses panted and pranced in the hot desert air as Naaman approached the prophet of the Lord. He sat before Elisha and handed the letter to the prophet.

Elisha read the letter from Naaman’s king. He thought briefly, as if in deep prayer. Then he spoke. "Go to the river Jordan. It is very close. It is the river of the Lord. Wash in it seven times, dipping your whole body in it seven times. When you have done this, your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean. You will be clean when you come out of the water of the Lord of Israel."

Naaman jumped to his feet in anger, stomping back to his chariot. "I thought that at least for me he would surely stand and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!"

"We have rivers in Damascus, too, you know. We have the Abana and the Pharpar. Surely these are better than the waters of Israel. They are clean, and fresh. I have bathed before in the great waters of Damascus. Could I not wash in them again, and be clean? Is this country hick prophet saying that his god is stronger than our god? It can not be so!" Naaman stormed with rage at Elisha. His rage shook him so badly the beads of sweat flew from his neck and his nose.

But Naaman had been a very astute man at a good time. He had picked good and wise servants. One of them spoke to Naaman the Syrian hero. "Sir, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? Of course you would have. So all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean!’ "

Well, you should known that Naaman was still pretty smart. He knew when someone was talking sense to him. So Naaman went down to the River Jordan, just a little distance away. He did not have to wait until he came home to Damascus. He only went to the Jordan, a few feet away.

At the Jordan, Naaman dipped himself in the water seven times. This was what Elisha said he must do. Seven times.

Then Naaman’s flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy. He was clean at last.
Naaman did what the Lord asked. He went to the closest water, dipped himself in it seven times, and was healed. It was an act of faith.

What Do You Mean, You Don't Have Time?

What Do You Mean,
Matthew 15:21-28
Karl Evans
2007

Jesus was tired. Every muscle hurt as he trudged the Galilean countryside. The disciples expected a plan from him. They waited in vain for Jesus to share his plans with them. Would he go down into the Decapolis? Would he go north? When did Jesus plan to make his next pilgrimage to Jerusalem, if at all? He was not saying.

The long, hard days of personal ministry were beginning to wear on him. Miles of rough and dusty roads to walk. Even the Roman government, with all its power and money, could not put a decent surface on the roads of the empire. From the British Isles to Pakistan, the great web of highways required constant maintenance.

For Jesus, there was more. His friends and supporters spread the word about him. Soon every villages all over Galilee and the Decapolis expected him to pay them a visit. Unfamiliar beds. All manner of different foods. Insects. Dogs. People. Always more people. Jesus was just tired.

But being tired was not all. Jesus would not have had a problem with that. After all, he was carrying out his mission. The worst was that he was getting frustrated by the unwillingness of people to know and accept his love for them. Many could not believe he had something for them.

Jesus was tired of being rejected. He was sick and tired of being doubted. Tired of being tired. Tired.

Jesus found himself walking the road toward the Mediterranean. He felt the purpose in his heart as he walked. Slowly he was able to move away from others on the road. This was his only means of having some time for himself now.

Walking to the sea coast to visit the resort cities of Tyre and Sidon took about two weeks. It was not such a great distance, from Nazareth to Tyre. Rather, every person he met seemed to want to have some of his time and energy.

Jesus wanted to be in the coastal cities for the sake of the people who lived there. Even more, Jesus needed the rest, the R & R, of the great sea. He might rest on the beaches. He could watch the waves and the tides as he renewed himself by the power of the sea. Even the ships going to and coming from distant lands seem to add an energy to the scene.

It is marvelous what salt spray can do. The roar of even the gentlest surf lapping against the sand or rocks drowns out many sorrows and cares. Sunsets on the ocean on a clear day can cleanse the mind of many things. The finely separating shades of blue and red and orange and gray cleanse the senses of fogginess and doubt.

Jesus even found a little time to go out on the sea in fishing boat with the owner and a few others. For a fisherman from the Sea of Galilee, this was a rare treat. The Mediterranean was even calmer than his home waters. Jesus could relax so well.

Wherever he traveled, Jesus managed to find others to love. Someone always awaited his healing power. This time, Jesus went to the coast to heal himself as well as others. He needed healing in spirit and in mind as well as body.

When Jesus came to the Mediterranean coast to rest, a not-so-strange thing happened. Other people kept coming to him. People who were hurting came to him to be healed. Their timing was always just right. These people who needed healing came to him right at the time Jesus needed healing for his own soul. It never seemed to fail.

One of these was Anya. Anya the Canaanite who came to Jesus with only the last dregs of ethnic hope. Anya the minority in the land of her furthest ancestors came to Jesus.

Anya lived the pitiful life of a native Palestinian. She knew she was looked down upon by the Hebrews themselves. She was abused by the world around herself, but she came to Jesus for healing.

Jesus was tired. Avoiding crowds was not easy, but he needed to be silent. He needed to be relieved of being forced to talk. Those Jews and Gentiles who kept crowding around him made so many demands. They demanded he prove he could solve all their problems by himself. They demanded he heal. They demanded miracles.

Some said he might be the Christ. If he were, he should be able to prove it quickly. Jesus was tired of this game. Everywhere he went, someone else wanted a miracle. Not much of a miracle, mind you. Just make this person wealthy. Make that person win the next election. Make this boy win the big race. Jesus was tired of this.

But Anya needed help. She came to Jesus because she desperately needed help now. Her daughter, Meliq, was a girl possessed.

Meliq was bitter, hostile, struggling against a mother she believed didn't want her. She fought with a mother whom she blamed for Meliq's own Canaanite skin coloring and hair structure. She blamed her mother for this load which hung about her neck like an albatross. This beautiful young woman should have been in her prime. Instead she was bitter about what God had dealt her. The web of anger and resentment aimed at her own mother, at her own blood, made her life a hell.

And Meliq blamed her father, gone though he was. He had disappeared one day with no trace, no direction. It was mostly his fault. He left Meliq and Anya alone.

And Meliq blamed herself. She blamed herself for hurting her own mother. She blamed herself for making life miserable for Anya. The more guilty she felt, the more her hostility came through. When life turned harder for Anya, life became incredibly more difficult for Meliq.

Anya blamed herself for everything. She blamed herself that her husband left. Pressuring him to leave was the last thing she really wanted. He wanted only tenderness and sex and loving support. He was willing to work hard to support Anya and Meliq.

Anya responded to his care and need out of her own bitterness at being trapped. She was trapped forever in a woman's body. Her husband could not stand the rejection of his love, so he left. Now, she was alone and trapped in a Canaanite woman's body.

Anya was trapped as a mother. She was raising a child she wanted and feared and resented. The responsibilities she both demanded and dreaded trapped her. Being an abandoned woman trapped her. Anya was trapped as an abandoned woman in a world that placed no value on such a life.

When her husband left, her real trouble began. Anya began to have trouble with Meliq. Meliq shouldn't have been born. Anya knew it. If only Meliq had not come into this world! Anya's husband could have left easily. No one would have thought too much about it. There would have been far fewer problems.

Anya would not have had to deal with Meliq's hostility and bitter words. Life would have been much easier.

It was a vicious circle. Pressure, hurt, pressure, hurt, pressure, hurt. Anya had to have help from somewhere.

From outside the circle around Jesus, she called in desperation. "Jesus! Jesus!"

Anya began to elbow her way through the crowd to where he stood. "Jesus! Jesus! Master!"

The crowd turned hostile, closing in against her. Some of the Jews tried to keep her from getting ahead of them in their own push to see Jesus. She was Canaanite. This ranked her last in society. She could wait until their needs were met by this prophet.

Jesus struggled within himself. He knew many of this mob did not believe him. These people were only there to heckle or to deride him. There are always those poor souls. They seemed to be without conscience.

Jesus looked through the crowd directly at Anya. His voice was weary. "Anya, right now I don't have time. Right now I've got problems with those of my Israel who think I'm a little crazy. Come back when I have some time. I promise I will try to talk to you later."

By now Anya was close enough to Jesus to look him right in the eye, face to face. She spoke to Jesus as maybe he had never been spoken to before. Her eyes and her voice burned with the fire of desperation as she read him out."

"What do you mean, you don't have time? Don't have the time? If the Son of God does not have the time for me, who does?"

"I need help. I've needed help a long time. All my life. I went to the Temple. I asked for help at the holiest place in the world. The temple priests said they did not have time. They were too busy offering sacrifices to say a prayer for me and my daughter."

"Instead, they said a prayer for the calves they were slaughtering for the sacrifice. They said a prayer for the chickens, and a prayer for the doves. Those jerks said a prayer for the priests, and for more money, but they wouldn't say a prayer for me. They wouldn't say a prayer for my daughter."

Anya didn’t even pause for a breath. "So I went to the synagogue for help. I asked the rabbi who was preaching. I asked the elders who sat listening. I said ‘I need help!’"

"The elders said they were too busy, too busy deciding how many steps they could take on the Sabbath. They said they were busy deciding what kind of theater they could watch."

"They said they were too busy to give a Canaanite woman a cleansing bath of prayer. But they did find time to ask if I had threshed wheat on the Sabbath. They asked if I had brought any money."

"They did ask what I had done wrong. They said I must have done something terribly wrong if my life is so miserable. I have done many things wrong in my life, but could it be the wrongest thing I have done is to believe the people of David might care about me?"

"So I went to the government. I said `I need help.' I said I needed a counselor, and those who speak for God are too busy. Will you help?"

"And the people of the government said `We are too busy. We are too busy writing job descriptions and recruiting counselors to actually provide counseling and care."

"The people of the government said, ‘We are too busy building a pretty chariot which can kill lots of people by running them over without uprooting their flower beds. Too busy giving tax breaks to the wealthy. They must pay the wealthy out of the taxes you pay on your own home. If we don't collect the taxes, how can the government give more money to the wealthy?’"

"They said ‘Go away. We must forget you exist. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. If you are poor, you must deserve it. Go and make yourself clean, and then you won't need government aid.'"

Jesus and the others could only stand and listen to the fire in Anya's voice. She chose her cutting words carefully. Then she filled them with the kind of spiritual fire Jesus wished he could match. The pace and passion of her emotions held them to the fire of her voice.

"I went to my neighbors. The people right next door, neighbors for years. They were too busy. They were too busy waiting for Meliq and Anya to die or move out so they could have our home without paying for it."

"Those thieves were not too busy to ask if the house has a good foundation. They were not too busy to make plans to eventually tear the house down and build a duplex, but too busy to help us live now."

"I--I was just about to give up, to find a way to just die. Let everything go. I would have ended everything."

"Then I heard about you. I heard you came to bring Heaven on earth."

"I was glad. I jumped for joy! I had hope because this earth is not the Kingdom of God. It is nothing but hell for me and my daughter. You would help me! I was so happy. So I came."

"Now you say you don't have time for me either! You have to please these people who surround you who are nothing but warts on the skin of life! If you, the Son of God, the Christ, the Son of David, the one sent from Heaven, do not have time for me, then who in Hell does?"

"You don't even see me, do you? Your eyes are fogged over. You're seeing yourself."

"Look at me. I say, look at me! Look in my eyes. Do I exist? Am I real? If I exist, does anyone care?"

A tremor of silence held the crowd. Not even the most uncaring in the crowd could look up.
Finally Jesus looked into her eyes. He did not see her at first, only seeing himself as she had said.

Jesus knew he was caught. He was caught in the very human trap of caring about his own acceptance. Jesus was caught worrying about going to Jerusalem. Jesus was caught wondering what awaited him when he finally would go to Jerusalem.

Jesus knew he was beginning to spend more time caring about trial, more time facing rejection, more time organizing the church than caring for the people around him.

Now he began to find his fire again. Jesus opened himself to her frustrations. "You are right. You have caught me where I cannot escape. You have cast judgement on my love, and on my power, and found it wanting. All right. You are right. You have made me see you."

Jesus continued. "Let me have whatever it is you cannot carry. Let me carry your load. I will do what I can."

And Anya, more gently now, said "Jesus, I have already given you my anger. I don't want it back. I guess you can keep that.

"Jesus, I cannot live with my own impatience. It is a load I cannot bear. And another thing, I have the feeling of being trapped, trapped as a woman. I am trapped as a mother, trapped as a Canaanite. Take this feeling from me. Please Jesus, take it away. Take away the trap of being what I am. I cannot live with it."

Jesus took Anya in his arms, holding her tight. Tears came to four tired brown eyes, tired from seeing each other, and from seeing themselves in each other. While they held, life revealed itself to both.

Jesus said quietly "Meliq will be all right. She is a good child. You and Meliq will have your love for each other. I will carry the load you have given me. At least we will love each other in the way people ought to be loved."

With a last hug, Anya moved away from the crowd on the shore, up the dusty road toward home. Still Jesus' words echoed in her heart, strong words, gentle words, caring and loving words, "You and Meliq will have your love."

As Anya neared her home, she began to make little plans. Plans to clean the house, to spend a little more time with her daughter, to care for someone else. As she walked she wondered how Jesus might actually help her. Well, he could at least just hear her story. That made her wonder about how he worked. It did feel good.

Anya liked the way Jesus said her daughter's name. "Meliq." He gave it such a pleasant note. And when he said "Anya," it was as if he really cared about her.

As she reached out for the latchstring of the door to her tiny home she remembered the love in Jesus’ voice. Jesus had said "Meliq. Meliq. Meliq. Anya. Anya."

Anya liked the way Jesus said the names. As she stepped inside, she was startled by what she remembered now. Anya had not told him either her daughter's or her own name.

Creation

Adam and Eve
by
Karl C. Evans
2007

There was a time God breathed into the Man the breath of life. The first human came to know what it was to be alive. There was a garden to explore. There were stars to watch. There were clouds to consider. There were all good things to do.

But God wanted to share creation with the Man. God wanted to share not only creation itself. God chose to share even creative activity and emotion with the created one. Almost – everything was to be shared. Sharing is very good.

So God paraded all the animals in front of the man to see what the Man would name them. This sharing of names would be very good. They could laugh a little, and dream a little.

One animal the man called `Lion'. Another, the Man called `Dog'. Yet another the Man called `hippo – '...no, not `hippopotamus'. That one he called `rhinoceros'. It looked more like a rhinoceros than a hippopotamus. But there are hippopotamuses and rhinoceri – or is it hippopotami and rhinoceroses?

Finally, all the animals had been named. God looked around, carefully. God saw that Man was alone, even yet. That was not good. It was the desire of God that all things should be good for Man.

God sensed the loneliness of Man. God knew that feeling of loneliness, coming up from deep within.

You see, God always wanted someone to love. God had a great desire to fulfill the great capacity for love God felt in the sacred heart. This love, the desire to do for another whatever would be best for them, should be fulfilled. It was the Master's plan. The great over-flowing source that welled up from within the heart of the one called God should be fulfilled. God should find a lover.

It was God's notion that one day there would be another. A being would come to life to whom God could relate the sacred name. That sacred name, given the Creator by the Creator, was the most important word of all Creation. It cried out the very essence of the Divine Being – `I-Will-Risk-My-Very-Being-On-Your-Behalf'. "I will do everything I can for you even though it may cost me everything!"

In Hebrew, we call this name "Yahweh". It is the word which speaks of this willingness to sacrifice for us. This Yahweh is the One you and I call `God'.

God thought and thought about the man, Adam. One night, Yahweh helped Adam sleep a very deep sleep. God gently took a rib from Adam's side. God carefully carried it down by the river bank.

Then God began to pack mud around the rib until God had created Woman, a person of beauty and strength and sensitivity, but different from Adam. From that day to this women have tried to improve on God's work of beauty by using more and more mud packs.

God created Eve to receive the same love that Adam received, and to share love both with God and with Adam. This was the first love triangle. It was very good.

Now Adam and Eve made their home in a beautiful garden. In the midst of that garden rose a bubbling spring. This spring never stopped flowing. It overflowed like the cup of God's love.
From the bubbling waters of that spring rose the headwaters of the four rivers of the earth. The rivers were teeming with fish and frogs and water-skippers and crawdads.

Between the banks of the rivers rose all the vegetation of the earth. There were pine trees and poplars, bamboo and tumbleweeds, bluegrass and roses.

As Adam and Eve stood on the bank of one of those rivers in the early morning, they could survey all that God had done in ordering Creation. The splendor of Yahweh's creation on their behalf filled their hearts with awe and reverence. Their voices would sound beyond the range of the garden as they sang together:

O Lord my god, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my saviour God to Thee
How great Thou art. How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my saviour God to Thee
How great Thou art. How great Thou art.
(Boberg, Carl. Translated by Stuart A Hine. "How Great Thou Art" (Nashville: The Methodist Publishing House 1966)

But not all life held only a sense of majesty and awe. There was a sense of closeness, of warmth, of caring between God and Adam and Eve. And fun. They joked about the size God had made the giraffe's neck. They laughed at boxing kangaroos and they cuddled koala bears.

Occasionally a light-hearted mood would come over Adam and he would sing a little song that has become a theme song for politicians and television evangelists.

O Lord, it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way.
I can't wait to look in a mirror.
I get better lookin' each day.
To know me is to love me....
(Oh, Lord, It’s Hard To Be Humble)

And just as God smiled often in the process of ordering Creation, now God smiled again. This was not a smile such as you might see on the evangelist who just saw a thousand-dollar bill in the collection plate. It was not the smile on the face of Grandma when Johnny breaks a centuries-old vase.

God smiled that deep loving and caring smile. God enjoyed the openness and humor and the loving nature of these Ones for whom God was prepared to lay the Sacred Existence on the line. Everything was shared, and open, lit by the radiance of their relationship.

In the evening the three of them would walk arm in arm around the garden, talking about every little event of the day. God relished every moment of this. It was a fulfillment of creative love between them as they walked and talked. This little doe deer was now apparently pregnant.

This rabbit had moved to a new home, a home not threatened by the fox or by the dog.

And when the evening was done, as the fireflies sparkled across their path, Adam and Eve would make their farewell with Yahweh – a hug and a "Good night!" – and settle into good, sound, restful sleep.

Now in the midst of the garden stood two trees. Yahweh had told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat the fruit that abounded on these trees. God had not really given them a reason for the prohibition. There was nothing but trust and openness between them. If God said they were not to eat the fruit of the trees, they didn't eat the fruit of the trees. That was all. Period.

But inside Eve something was gnawing, gnawing the way a tiny termite soon destroys and devours a mansion. A question, a wondering, a searching.....

One night, after the evening walk with God and while the fireflies still made their minute torches seen through the garden, Eve spoke. Quietly, almost with a touch of pain.

"Adam, I've been thinking. You know those two trees near the spring? The ones with the beautiful fruit that God has said we are supposed to avoid?"

Now Adam, lying there with Eve close beside, had nearly gone to sleep in the stillness, but now he was wide awake. Something in Eve's voice warned him of things to come. Something dreaded, something....

"Yes, Eve, I know them."

"Adam, I wonder how they would taste?"

"We'll probably never know, Eve."

"Adam, I wonder what might happen if we ate some of the fruit? I mean, really, what would happen?"

"Well, I really don't know. I cannot imagine that God would let anything hurt us, except when we stub our toe or something."

Again there was a long silence before Eve spoke again. Adam knew his thoughts were echoing hers. "Let's go have some of that fruit. What could it hurt, if God doesn't find out?"
"I suppose that's true. What could it hurt?"

By morning, as the light began to appear over the horizon, over the top of the very tree from which they had eaten, Adam and Eve had still not slept. Together they had lain in the darkness frozen by the awareness of their deeds. The fruit had been sweet, and warm, and had felt good in their stomachs.

But now with that satisfaction, Adam and Eve lay together, close, but could not touch in the night.

Their hearts were cold, and the sweat that poured from their brows was not from the heat. Oh, they were still alive. They now knew there was no great immediate death awaiting them. The tree was not poison. It brought no physical pain.

Their problem was not something the fruit of the tree had brought. They had brought it themselves. They had done something only with themselves. They had shared an event with each other. They knew some moments of time they could not share with their Creator....

This God, who had created them just in order to have someone to receive the love...

This God, who had begun to fulfill the Name that was to be the Divine Calling Card...

This God who loved them and relished every living moment with them...

This God, who risked the very existence of Creation on the potential relationship between Man, and Woman, and God....

They could no longer share every moment with God.

In the early light their eyes met and then turned away. For the first time they saw each other as they really were...unfaithful, untrusting, and...apart. They could not bear the thought of having the other see them in their separation. They turned away from each other.

Through the whole day they hid, afraid to be seen by the other. How they longed for the touch of the other, longed for the words from the other that would make everything all right. Both listening. Both afraid.

The Garden was quiet. No laughter. No raucous singing of being humble. Even the birds didn't sing. The pigs didn't grunt. The lions didn't even purr. Even the earthworms tried to quiet their gentle movements....

In the evening, God came to the center of the garden, knowing something was wrong.

"Adam. Eve."

"Adam! Eve!"

"Adam!! Eve!!"

The words rang and hissed through the garden, filling every clearing among the trees just as the thunder after a close lightning strike. When they heard the voice of God, Adam and Eve took some leaves from the fig tree and made clothes that hid themselves.

"Adam!! Eve!!"

Adam and Eve heard, and came, and looked down. They studied the ground in front of God.
Now perhaps what God did next was the second hardest thing God ever did. But there was no choice. Adam and Eve had chosen to be apart from God, to have events and thoughts and dreams in their lives that they could not and would not share with their Creator and Lover.

Because God was betting everything, risking it all on them, God gave them what they had chosen.

As they walked toward the gate, God did what could be done. God took flower petals from the vines and added them to the clothing they had made for each other.

"You will need all the beauty in your life you can get. No one need ever see your shame, or your apartness. If it is your choice, no one need ever see your alienation from each other or from me. Those who come after you, if they choose to be apart from me, it will not be because of your example. It will be because they choose it for themselves. But I will go with you, and be near to you, unless you tell me to leave."

And Adam and Eve walked out the gates of the garden. Their eyes were down, blurred and unseeing. As they walked, the whole garden of trees and plants and grass and animals and bugs and birds sang a prayer for them:

Someone's crying, Lord, come by here.
Someone's crying, Lord, come by here.
Someone's crying, Lord, come by here.
Oh, Lord, come by here. (Kum Ba Yah)

A Rainbow Connection

The Rainbow Connection

Luke 2:41-52

Karl Evans

2007

Donkeys. Good grief, donkeys. Donkeys have been the stock of motherly love and admiration since the earliest of times. These steady workers have also been the butts of constant jokes. Even political commentators and tired travelers have lamented their stubbornness and cries of woe.

Yet donkeys have a reputation as docile, plodding, easy-going animals, willing to accept any load. Faithful donkeys have been the burden-bearers of almost the entire world since domestic animal history began.

Along a hot trail or standing in the sun or lying in the shade, donkeys seem always to be the same. Legend says donkeys will never stray, never flinch. Much of the hoopla about donkeys is true.

That is, all but that little part about being gentle, easy-going, and docile. And especially except that part about being comfortable to ride.

Donkeys are common on the busiest street in Jerusalem. In front of the Temple of Judaism, the holiest shrine in the world, donkeys may not seem so pleasant. There are a few problems at a sacred site.

Every day, hundreds of people from Jerusalem itself came to the temple. Many more came from faraway places such as India and Spain and Madagascar and Egypt.

The visitors came with their yapping dogs and with their neighing and prancing horses. Pilgrims came with their singing and talking birds and with their oxen and their camels. They came to make an offering to the Lord and to give thanks.

Of course, they also came to buy and sell. They came to yell at and bicker with each other. All this made this one of the most crowded and cosmopolitan of markets of the time.

Now, about the donkeys. What do you think? In this mess, will a donkey stand still? Will a donkey stand quietly while dogs chase each other and fight each other between the legs of the donkey?

Will the donkey stand calmly while huge oxen plod by? Or will it remain placid as the governor's chariots race back and forth?

Can the donkey be calm while camels three times the size of the donkey buck and roar and spit over them? Would you? Of course not.

But now it is early morning, and time to go back home. Time to return to Damascus, and Alexandria, and Bagdad, and Delhi. Time to hit the road.

So the donkey pilgrims form their caravan as early in the morning as possible. When the first light of day comes, they already have their packs tied together and strapped to their beasts.
They are usually some of the poorest of the pilgrims. The wealthier travelers had camels or chariots for themselves. These poor but faithful visitors have only donkeys and dogs. The travelers with camels and horses looked down on them.

Yet the donkey pilgrims are not quite destitute. A donkey, though not a huge animal, is still worth good money. And it still requires feed, and water, and care.

These pilgrims have come to the Temple for the sake of faith rather than status. Some have perhaps done a small bit of buying or selling in Jerusalem to help pay for the trip. Now, with the rituals and the trading done, the Temple visited, and homesickness setting in, it is time to leave.

With the first light of dawn, the men of the caravan make their last walk into the courtyard of the Temple. Many meaningful prayers are uttered here. Often the prayers are for another opportunity to see the temple again one more time before death.

Then the families and animals wait, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. The men offer their last prayers for a safe journey home--wherever around the world that may be. Many of them will never see Jerusalem again. Then, donkey after donkey, camel after camel, sandal after sandal, the ragged bands begin the long trek home. They are long gone before the confusion of the daily marketplace really erupts.

In relief and in a spiritual high, the whole caravan of pilgrims and sightseers and small-time traders move off down the road. They are beginning what will be for many families a 10-day or ten-week trek to home, to Nazareth or Athens wherever their home happened to be.

Almost this whole caravan left.

Almost this whole family left.

There was the boy--oh, about twelve or so. The trip was a present from his parents on his becoming a man. This was in the good tradition of the Jews.

He has been confirmed in the faith just after his twelfth birthday. His family and friends affirmed him and his place in the community. They supported him in his relationship with his God and with God's Chosen People.

Jesus had gone through the ritual in the winter. Now it is spring and the rainy season is past. The family has made the trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem. They came partly as a sightseeing and business trip and partly as a gift to Jesus.

Now Joseph has been getting along in years. This would almost certainly be his last trip to Jerusalem. As he knelt, he felt the majestic presence of the Great Temple. The power of God seemed to force itself upon him from the spot of the Holy of Holies.

In his last few moments alone with the beloved Temple, Joseph prayed for peace for all the world. He prayed for his wife and family. He prayed for Jerusalem, and for Israel, and for the family of David.

At last he let his mind and heart see a new Israel springing up around the Temple. He could see sunshine and flowers and rainbows.

Jesus could even feel the peace of the new Israel. This vision was the most precious gift of any pilgrimage to the Temple. Every Son of Abraham is privileged to witness that vision, given a little faith.

With the vision firmly embedded in his heart and mind, Joseph was ready.

The men of the caravan slowly rose to go back to the caravan and begin the long trek.

Joseph left Jesus kneeling in the courtyard, deep in prayer. Joseph was used to this by now.
Jesus spent more time in prayer than did other boys. Mary and Joseph had long since decided the best parenting style in this situation was benign neglect. He chose to let Jesus be. He did not understand Jesus. Joseph just tried to stay out of Jesus’ way.

Joseph frequently remembered Jesus had a special relationship with God. Often he thought it might turn out to be more trouble than it was worth. Sometimes, such as just now, Jesus was a confusing nuisance. By his special interests, he was not quite in the mainstream of the community.

His extra time reading or in prayer might have been better used to help in the carpentry work. Even at the age of twelve he could have made some money working or trading here at the gates of the Temple. Right now he could have been helping the caravan prepare its departure.

Now that Jesus had become a man, Joseph was hoping he would be a little more reliable about the family business. Jesus can work hard as a carpenter's helper. Jesus could and should do the things needed to make the family life better.

But today, because it is special, Joseph let Jesus have a last few minutes. Joseph had a donkey and a wife to look after. Jesus would be along shortly. Joseph really needed Jesus with him now. Jesus could both carry part of the load and help lead the donkey.

Now as a man and a Jew, Jesus finally lifted his eyes. He rose slowly but resolutely in the morning light of the courtyard. Steadily he turned to join his parents. He really wanted to just stay in the courtyard of the Temple, but he knew he must go back now to Nazareth. There would be another day.

As he took one last look around the yard, his eyes landed on a blind man. The man's dog was just setting on a fight with another dog, a stray. They were yapping and barking and biting and crying.

The leash on the blind man's dog was getting tangled in the legs and mouths of both dogs. The blind man tried to separate them but succeeded only in getting himself bit by his own dog.

Jesus ran to the man and the dogs. With the help of another man he pulled the dogs apart. Jesus struggled to untangle the leashes and legs and teeth of the dogs. He spoke as calmly and gently as he could to sooth the emotions of the frantic dogs.

Jesus spoke the thoughts running through him, deep inside. "There has to be a better way for the Father's creatures to live. Mister, let me look at your dog. Come on, now, that's better. Let's have a look at you."

The blind man knelt beside Jesus, running his hands over his dog. He tried to find the places of torn skin and muscles, but could do little without help. The young Jesus helped him locate the bites that were the most dangerous.

The man found a little oil in his pouch, and Jesus helped him put it on the worst of the places. Jesus tied some of the hairs around a torn spot together to help the skin stay in place until it could heal.

Then Jesus looked to the other dog. He found a panting, heaving, skinny, half-starved mongrel, a wild dog of the streets. Jesus tried to work on his hurts. There was no one to hold this dog. Everyone else had left when the fighting was over.

Jesus thought again, "There has to be a better way for the Father's creatures to live."

Finally a woman knelt beside him to look at the wounds. She poured some water from a skin pouch at her waist. She bathed the open sores. Gently the unknown lady spoke to Jesus and to the dog.

Just as the kind lady brought out a little oil pouch, a large man, a course man, grabbed her by her hair and pulled her roughly to her feet. "Stupid woman. No sense at all. That's about the stupidest thing I've seen ever in this world!"

Jesus heard the words, " . . . in this world," and something in him moved. Something had to change. This was not the world hoped for in Creation.

Then, with the movement within the heart of Jesus, something began to change in the world. Jesus went to the well where another woman helped him clean the mud and the dogs' blood from his clothing and hands.

As they cleaned him off, Jesus questioned himself about his life. There must be another world, another kingdom, another life. But how?

He was supposed to be a man now, but really he was only a boy of twelve. He was the son of a carpenter, the son of Mary. But there was more. The congregation of the synagogue had confirmed Jesus as a Son of the Covenant, a Son of David, a Son of the Creator.

Somehow he didn't know all this meant for him yet, but now he was a man, a responsible adult. He knew he was ready to take his turn in the synagogue, ready to teach, ready to serve.

Just ready! But for what?

Jesus nearly ran to the circle of priests gathering now for the daily Temple work. His eagerness could hardly be contained in his young body. Jesus needed to ask how they could transform this world into the New World.

Jesus partly asked from the Law, which said Jesus had the right to ask questions now. Partly he lived out their tradition, which said he could sit among them for a time. Partly from kindness, but mostly from Jesus’ own boyish eagerness, the priests opened their circle to him.

He began to ask them the questions which were troubling him, questions which have troubled every generation of teenagers.

It was well he did. There were many ideas, refreshing ideas. These learned men were eager to attempt to answer fresh questions, though they were also old questions.

They discovered life anew, these men and the boy/man. Learning together. Dreaming together. Preparing together.

Some of the priests talked about their own frustrations with families who did not understand the commitment to the faith. Some families didn't like the constant emphasis on prayer and ritual.
Jesus could see the real frustrations of temple life in these men. Yet he knew this was only a symptom of the difficulty of living in such a world.

They talked for hours. As their talking went on Jesus became more excited about the forces available to change this world.

He began to see there actually were adults in the synagogues and in the Temple who cared. Many cared as deeply about the world as Jesus did. He began to experience the frustrations of a society which tries to do what is right and just cannot quite hit the mark.

The place of the faithful people of the Lord became much more clear in his mind. His heart seemed to overflow with the possibilities for a new world.

"Jesus! What are you doing? Gentlemen, I'm sorry for butting in, but Jesus has no business here. He is supposed to be with us in the caravan.

"Jesus, we've looked all over for you. Your mother is worried sick. We walked halfway to Jericho before we turned back for you.

"We brought you to Jerusalem because we thought you had become a man, you were no longer a child.

"But now you act like a child. You are supposed to be a man, a Son of the Covenant, a Son of David, a man of the people. Maybe you are too proud to even be with people who have a donkey

"Maybe your people are these rich priests who never have done a day's work in their lives!"

Jesus' vision wandered off to the donkey. He knew his friend was getting old. Hundreds of times he had heard the story of how it had carried Mary and her yet-to-be-born Child to Bethlehem. Jesus had spent hundreds of hours climbing on the donkey, petting him, talking to him, pretending he was another friend. Now it was his job to feed it, to comb it, to keep it healthy and out of harm.

There was a newborn donkey, just a few weeks old now, which would one day replace this old friend on these trips.

Just now the baby donkey was back in Nazareth, just eating and playing and growing. Soon his father would be tired, too tired to make the long trips, but by then the son would be ready.
Jesus thought of the blind man. He remembered with his touch the quivering dogs. His heart churned for the woman with the oil who suffered at the hand of an abusive and violent man. He felt thankful for the one who helped him clean up. His eyes began to see another world.

Jesus looked around at the understanding eyes of the priests. His vision was of them each holding a scroll of the scripture in front of them, reading, explaining, teaching.

He looked at Joseph who just hours ago was kneeling beside him in the Temple courtyard. Together they had prayed for the New World. "Dad, you need to know now I must take care of my Father's business. But you are right. There is work to do in Galilee."

Though the rainy season was past, a rainbow appeared in the bright Jerusalem skies.