One is a familiar story; the other is new.
We've been reading Genesis and the story of Joseph.
I'll be the first to admit that I can't always reconcile myself to some of the stories in the Old Testament. I was reluctant to read the Old Testament to the little boy because I was uncertain about answers to some of the hard questions I feared he could ask.
He did ask a few questions like: "Did God kill him?" or "What did God do? Cut off his leg?" (I'm not sure where this one came from).
I answered with "I don't know." It was the truthful response to give because I didn't know.
The story of Joseph, in many ways, is not a happy one. It is however, beautiful.
This verse in Genesis where Joseph speaks to his brothers about their role in his captivity and slavery in Egypt leaves a poignant mark:
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...
Genesis 50:20
It reminds me that in my own sufferings, God is at work.
The other story we've read this week is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, "The Horse and His Boy."
We finished a chapter tonight that was well above a four-year-old boy's level of comprehension.
A wise, old man, known as the Hermit of the Southern March, was speaking to a war horse that felt he had not shown much bravery in a time of peril. The experience humbled this talking horse on his way to the great land of Narnia.
"You're not quite the great horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you are nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."
I read this passage aloud twice, more to remind myself of this truth of humility than anything else.
A wise, old man, known as the Hermit of the Southern March, was speaking to a war horse that felt he had not shown much bravery in a time of peril. The experience humbled this talking horse on his way to the great land of Narnia.
"You're not quite the great horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you are nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."
I read this passage aloud twice, more to remind myself of this truth of humility than anything else.
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