Who’s Hand is in the sand?
On this Sunday morning, with the two youngest kiddos on my lap, I read the Divine Office of Readings for today. The reading was about Ester. Here she was a young woman being rounded up, just because of her beauty and taken into the harem of the king.
I cannot imagine the thoughts and fears she had on that fateful day. She was nothing more than a pawn, in fact she was less than a pawn at that moment. She was a grain of sand in a vast desert. However, inside that grain of sand we know as Ester something stronger and more significant was ready to bloom through the grace of God.
See Ester had the seeds of faith planted inside that grain of sand through the gift of faith. Through the events unfolding around her she would receive the choice to stand fast with her faith or cover her face in fear. Her free choice to sacrifice herself for her people is a foreshadowing (one of many) of the type of life Christ led on his way to the cross.
As a parent Ester’s story only tells part of the story’s lesson. Her foster father Mordecai fulfilled his parental and priestly duties towards Ester by first forming her in faith, and then continually reminding her of God’s covenant through to her people. A covenant which only survives if each generation embraces it freely in their hearts and deeds. That is why Mordecai continued to remind his adopted daughter of God’s commandments and covenant until the crisis peaked.
The challenges we face in this world today are no different than those Mordecai and Ester faced. The way to overcome those challenges are also no different than their responses. Parents and children must respond to the hand in the sand, the love and wisdom of the Holy Spirit in all that we do.
Parents and clergy must form their children with wisdom and the fear of God (that is the desire not to disappoint God) so they can evolve their faith into Love of God (where we make his will our own). We parents can never stop living our lives calling out both ourselves and our children to holiness. We must never stop praying the gift of faith is given to our children.
Children must understand as early as possible, they have a great inheritance. The covenant of God passed down and expanded from God through Abraham, through David, through Christ to each of us. Through this covenant we bind ourselves to follow his law, and obtain the rewards of eternal unity with him in heaven. Their basic choice in life is to chose virtue over vice each day of their lives. Whether they choose to do it from fear or love will be their own, and a decision they must understand accountability falls on them alone.
Have a blessed Sunday while remembering how Ester and Mordecai listened to the hand in the sand.
Today someone drew in the sand a little story. The lines left behind still drew me into an enchanting world of mystery. I may understand parts of the story, but I will never grasp the whole story! I am sure of this since it was not my hand drawing out the tale. It immediately made me think of God’s handiwork I see around me, and the mysteries of God I will never comprehend.
Did you have an adventure from fingers in the sand today yourself?
This Shelby Cobra is the last of the 67’s. Number 500 in fact! I saw the documentation and original window sticker to get all the proof I could need.
So it is also the last of the Cobras in the original Mustang body style. As you can see the car also wears a special badge signifying the good work of the owners to maintain it in original form. Yes it still has that wonderful throaty engine sound. It has about 14,000 original miles on it (well if I remember accurately).
This photo is available for sale if you’d like to have it adorn you wall, christmas cards or coffee mugs….please contact me at http://www.ehwphotography@gmail.com! It will help me pay for the website! Let me know the size you are looking for, and I will get you a price quote!
The Silver Bullet leaves homeport….
A different type of day today. It is a Federal holiday, so I had the day off and wrote up a busy schedule for myself. However it was a still a school day for Regina Caeli Academy so the four kiddos with the momma got up and at it in the early morning light.
Nine days out of ten…well 95 out of 100…I am the guy up first and out the door while they enjoy their warm blankets for another hour or so. So to be roused by my wife’s alarm, and the sound of lots of other feet is a game changer.
Today you can see the Silver Bullet headed out the door on its mission. As it left I found myself reading the news alone with my coffee. I found myself experiencing the same fears I had in my bed last night at 2 and 3 and 4….Ebola, TB outbreak, Flu type 68, ISIS, Russia on the move worldwide, China on the move in the South China Sea, a disarming US, Bishops in the middle east and Africa reminding their people they need to defend themselves, and a blatant turning away from natural law this country was founded on on every page.
Now fear is not a good state to live in, instead it is an emotion that should push us to new work to right the situation. So I made my list for the day, heard the divine office, read the morning prayer, and moved out to 9Am mass. During mass I listened and fell deep into thought. I wanted to ask God where he was. I wanted to ask him to do something about this madness around me, to help my family survive the coming turbulence. In the silence of post communion I my head rang with words from so many other sources me like a piece of lead dropped from the roof.
With that I got myself into motion working on preparation for Blue Knights tomorrow night (6 new boys coming in for the first time making their shields), meeting with a friend, and saying a few prayers along the way. I guess the big guy reminded me, to do what I can, where I can to build his kingdom. So I better get a little busier!