073 - Chapter 73

(Illustration: Statuette of a mother grinding corn, by Julio Lopez from Nicaragua)

Jesus once told the people a short, but very interesting, parable: (Matthew 21:28–32)

“What do you think?” he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

The answer was neither!

The behaviour of these two sons brought shame down upon their father's head. They were both disrespectful. 

But, standing right in front of the ‘religious righteous’ and the ‘repentant sinners” in the crowd, here was the ‘perfect son’, Jesus himself. 

All he ever desired was to do his Father’s will.

Can you imagine Jesus telling a more contemporary version of this same parable of ‘The Two Sons’, in light of all the trouble emerging in our world right now? For by the year 2010 two quite opposite and extreme sons were emerging on our world, though not all fell neatly into these two categories. 

I wondered at the time what would be the outcome of such an upbringing, and what the world might be like in twenty year’s time? I feared for the world if ever these two extreme systems were to clash. So I wonder whether Jesus might have told the parable like this for such a time as this, rather than then:-

“What do you think? A man had two sons. 

One attended a school at an early age where he was indoctrinated into a belief system which was enforced at the flick of a whip, where adhering to rules became of prime importance, and where hatred and intolerance were embedded into his thought system.

The other son chose the path of self interest and indulgence, and was free to delve into all manner of things both good and evil by way of new technologies. Pleasure and recreation became his new gods, and God who was left out of the picture completely.

“Which of these two sons do you think brought shame upon their father's head?” 

If both were were shameful, how can we truly please God, who is our father?

‘Pure’ religion in the Bible is described like this, in James 1.27

‘Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world’

In other words, the way to please God is through our compassion for the less fortunate and dispossessed people of our world, doing good to all; striving for personal purity and keeping ourselves from all that might be harmful to others. This is what religion ought to be about. This is what Jesus taught.

What a truly wonderful world we could have then!

SONG: Think of a world without any flowers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDfMFOuYbLs&list=PLnUh_ZGnZNfUlV8HEyppRIv8FLBtyEY65&index=69

A close friend of mine, does all that St James writes about in this reading, and I admire her so much. She is a former United Folk member, who gave up everything to serve the underprivileged in Nicaragua. Her name is Margaret Storey.

When she first went out there to ‘Bluefields’, there was no kitchen to speak of, no oven; and ants were to be found teeming everywhere, even in the teacups and kettles. She once had a battle with a tarantula spider when it jumped at her in her bedroom, and she dealt with it with her flip flop! 

Many people in our Wallsend churches, began giving monthly donations of money so that children there could be educated, and so many of these children have since graduated from university!

Gifts of money were also given for projects in the village.

Soon a cement floor was added to the rundown kitchen, wells were sunk into the ground, (Margaret nearly died herself, falling down one of these wells, while she was digging it!) Desks and materials were sent out, medicines paid for, rescue packages given and later livestock replaced after floods devastated a nearby town. She was also able to deliver a special gift of a small piece of chicken to all the townsfolk at Christmas.

Folk singer friends of mine sang at a special concert on behalf of Nicaragua, which raised a total of £560, which was matched by a local bank, so our total gift become £1120.

What was really unusual about that evening, is that my daughter Sarah had given me a statuette for the auction. It had been bought originally by her husband Alan, when he was in South America, long before she had met him. When I looked at its base, it had the words ‘Bluefields’ written on it, along with the name of the sculptor, Julio Lopez. I showed it to Margaret, and she reacted with surprise, for she actually knew this sculptor, who was from her village! What a truly amazing coincidence!

Margaret also came with me to some of the schoo;s where I conducted assemblies and she spoke to the children there about her missionary work, and each school responded with gifts for Nicaragua.

It’s amazing what one person can achieve in their lifetime. Margaret is a real life heroine! A true child of God! She still goes out there in her seventies.

I was 60 years old and ‘elderly’ when she began her mission work, I was beginning to creak at the joints, with palpitations and my eyesight wasn’t as it was. How on earth did she acheive what she did at the same age? 

My body was declining at last, but I had a splendid party for my birthday, where 37 friends and 5 children came along bringing a charity gift rather than a present, and we raised funds for Bluefields, Nicaragua; My mother did exactly the same when her 80th birthday party came around.

Sadly Nancy, Bob’s stepmother’s died that year. She had become a much-loved member of our family, and had been very close to our grandchildren. I had the privilege of conducting her funeral. Later, when her daughter Brenda sorted out Nancy’s belongings, much of it was donated to a coffee morning which we ran once more for the Nicaragua fund. Others from church made donations too, and we ended up with another £733 for Bluefields. The way in which people gave so generously to Margaret’s project was wonderful. All the people she knew got right behind her.

2010 was also a special time for us. Nothing can beat that incredible moment when news of another grandchild is announced. We’d been blessed three times already with such news. And now we were hit with a double whammy!

First Peter and Amanda came for breakfast at the end of July, and announced to us that their first baby was on its way, but it had to be a secret until the pregnancy was well in advance, just in case anything went wrong. So Bob and I had to keep this wonderful news from everyone else, and not even hint at it, which was a very hard thing to do, given our excitement for them.

A couple of weeks later we were blessed with news of yet another birth approaching! A fifth grandchild! Sarah and Alan were expecting their second child! Two at once was amazing news, and we still couldn’t say anything about the other announcement, but we were fit to burst with good news.

At our Ruby Wedding Anniversary meal in a restaurant at Heaton, Bob and I renewed our wedding vows to one another, and Joan presided. Luke brought my new ruby ring forward proudly in a special box, as our page boy. We then waited for dessert to arrive, but didn’t get that far, for all the smoke alarms went off! We were asked to vacate the restaurant, and later when we tried to pay our bill for the starter, main meal and drinks, the manager wouldn’t accept any payment at all as our event had had to be abandoned! What a day that turned out to be!

Sarah and Alan shared their good news afterwards!

It wasn’t until September that Peter and Amanda decided that it was time to share their good news too. Stephen, Dionne, Luke, Katie and my mam were with us at the time.

Amanda told everyone that she had an announcement to make, and she took her cardigan off to reveal words written on her T shirt, which said: “Fireman’s baby on board”

Luke who was only six at the time, was quick to react, when we asked him, “What does that say?” He read the words himself, and his little face broke into a smile and he rushed across to Amanda and hugged her baby bump tightly and kissed it. He was the first to really physically welcome his new cousin to our world that day.

Amanda burst into floods of tears at his reaction and we all cheered. Mam was over the moon! Katie was too young to read the caption, but once it was explained to her, she smiled such a beautiful smile, and she too went over shyly to welcome her cousin. She so much wanted a baby girl, so I wonder what she thought when the following year, in March, then April, boys were born!

Two sons!

How will they turn out, in twenty year’s time?