April 21, 2015
Gaining Friends
My sister-in-law is an insular
person and has always kept our side of the family at arm’s length — so much so
that in 34 years of marriage I’ve never been in her home. It wasn’t until the
last six weeks, because my brother-in-law (Ray) was on home hospice care, that
an invitation to visit was even extended. Ray passed away a few days ago and now
I’m at a loss on how to comfort someone who has limited our relationship to a
line in the family tree ancestry book. In the weeks and months to come it will
be interesting to see if my sister-in-law tries to break out from her self-imposed
estrangement. I’ve always struggled with the “Parable of the Shewed Manager,” but
it may be applicable in this situation. The master commended the dishonest
manager for shrewdly ingratiating himself to people so when he inevitably lost
everything, others would welcome him into their homes. Jesus is speaking to
believers when he says, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for
yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings” (Luke 16:9 NIV).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Gail;
-----Be sure to note that the shrewd manager made every friend by discharging a portion of their debts. I’m not sure if there is any material thing having more indelible emotional attachment than debt. It is always on our mind challenging what we might otherwise spend for carrying on with our lives. It is one thing to get a great dress or a silver plated Luger for half price, but there’s a sense of freedom and renewed life about getting out of debt for half price. It’s more personal.
-----I think isolated people keep tight hold on their personal information because by it are known their avenues for acquaintance. After my parents divorced, I was very proprietary about all of my personal information all the way through my adolescent and teen years. I didn’t want anyone to know. So I didn’t want anyone getting personally close. So I shut down my avenues for personal acquaintance. Into my twenties I kept them shut down because I didn’t want anyone to know what a lonely failure I had made of myself.
-----Knowing why her avenues are closed is not as important as knowing what opens them. It isn’t like you’ll have to pay off one of her debts. But it is like you’ll have to deal in some currency close to her senses. For that knowledge, you may have to plough with some of her heifers.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Steve,
I love the heifer illustration.
Gail
Post a Comment