Monday, November 26, 2007

I wish my ball was still red

I remember as a kid we would buy red balls that were some sort of strange material and even though they were not that much fun for us to play with the dog loved them. For whatever reason the dog thought they were very tasty and we would find these balls months later hidden under couches, in the basement or any other place the dog thought would be safe. After the dog was done these balls would have little assemblance to the ball we had originally bought. There was little if any red left on them, they had huge holes, bite marks, and drool all over them.
I think the Samaritan women who Jesus talked to at the well might have felt like the bouncy ball the dog had chewed up. I wasn't there so I can't say for certain but she seems like the type of women who had made some questionable decisions, it may have been her fault that she had been married numerous times and was living with a man who was not her husband. When Jesus said I came to give life and life to its fullest, was he talking about a life with freedom to be involved in this type of lifestyle? I don't know I have never lived or slept with anyone other than my wife but I would think the Samaritan's women life had to have been pretty rough. If that society was like ours I am sure "the good people" gossiped about her, some of the men tried to get their way with her because she was "easy' and I am sure her self worth was shot.
After Jesus gives her the freeing words of His message what happens? Does her life miracously change? We never hear another word about her. I don't think she is the point in the application of this story, how many women do we know in this similiar situation? How many women wish there proverbial ball was still red? How many wish they still had a whole life but because of situations beyond their control they are down and out? I was visiting my family in Vermont and I saw my sister. My sister does not want much to do with my family, God, or any of the such. It makes giving a lecture pretty pointless. I am at a loss at what to do other than love her through her situation. I don't know if she will make it out. I hope and pray she will but it looks bleak. This story of the Good Samaritan gives me hope for people like my sister.
On my 13 hour trip home from Vermont (while my kids were watching every possible disney movie) I was thinking of my sister and women like her. I was thinking later on in life, after a lengthy conversation with my wife. I was thinking it would be a worthwhile thing if I became employed as a security guard at a strip club. Why may you ask? Let's think about the scenerio of a strip club it is full of women who feel pretty lousy about themselves who are using the desires of men to pay for food on their tables for their kids. I don't think many women become strippers because it is an appealing profession. It is very easy to judge these women and condemn them but lets think what we as a Christian community are providing as alternatives. I hate what my sister has become, I hate that the Samaritan women was so despised but what do I do about it? Of course I am not going to go work in a strip club but it doesn't mean that these women are worthless.

1 comment:

Hermi said...

Wow Ben! I appreciate your cry out for your sister. That's beautiful really. There is hope for her. Jesus is a satisfying well of water that never changes. His love never fails. When we accept Jesus as our personal saviour we get a red ball that stays red, it is always unaffected deep inside us, perfect like Him, our true identity. The world and the enemy may beat and bruise us all around, but God knows that a true red ball, deep inside, stays red. ALL WE HAVE TO IS COME TO HIM. The heart of the Samaratin woman (like your sis) goes to a well with counterfeit water that can never satisfy b/c she has not realized or received her true identity that's God-made and preserved deep inside. That's why she meets Jesus and he says what he does. Until she realizes Jesus' message she thinks that the dark bottomless pit well that she usually goes to for temporary satisfaction is as good as it gets for her. Ha ha I laugh in the face of the devil.
Tell your sister that she is totally unaffected and beautiful b/c her true identity is just waiting for her to realize if she will meet with Jesus. Her ball IS still red. God's never changed, He loves her just like He always did, He never fails, He comes through for her even though everyone else didn't and she hasn't changed either deep deep inside where He lives.
Blessings to you!
Tell her I said Live Life to the Fullest!!!!