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 This
Month's Word on Hunger
What Do You Keep, and What Do You Leave Behind?
By Kent Terry, synod hunger appeal
secretary
I looked long and hard at the dusty ceramic picture of the Last Supper
in my parent's attic. I had found this at a general store in Texas on
one of my vacation trips there and brought it back as a gift for my mom.
I traveled a ot and my parent's house was full of such items like a
water pitcher from Canada, flowerpots from Mexico and pictures of
western mountains. Now, after my mother's death and the upcoming sale of
our family home, I sadly was getting all these things back. AI had to
admit that the once striking picture now looked like one of those White
Elephant gifts you pass on to your brother-in-law at Christmas. It was
chipped on the corners and the gold paint had lost its luster, but it
brought back lots of memories. I n fact, that was the problem;
everything I looked at in the house brought back memories and I knew
that what I left in the house was essentially gone forever. If we had a
barn or storage shed the situation might have been different, but my
wife and I joke that in our house, if you bring in a cereal box, you
take out a cereal box. the garage was already full of several boxes of
items that I just couldn't bring myself to discard. What do you keep and
what do you leave behind.
I guess my dilemma is an allegory for life as well. Our lives are full
of memories and we are shaped by those memories that we keep and those
we are willing to leave behind. Some close friends recently celebrated
their 50th. wedding anniversary and I thought how couples in a
successful marriage have to do this. There are lots of hurts that can be
gathered over the years, but these are best left behind and the memories
of joyful times as a couple and family drive the relationship.
Conversely, we all know people for whom sad or unfair events from the
past dominate their thoughts and they can never seem to get past these
issues. Our lives are shaped by what we keep and what we are willing to
leave behind.
What did Jesus say about this? His words to Simon Peter and Andrew by
the Sea of Galilee were, "Come, follow me," and these men left
everything behind; boats, homes and even their families to become Jesus'
first disciples. We may not need to leave absolutely everything behind,
but clearly what we keep and what we leave should be guided by our
faith. Perhaps the key question is not so much, 'What Would Jesus Do,'
but rather 'What Would Jesus Keep?'
So, I ended up keeping the picture, but my brother-in-law had best look
out for a package at Christmas that seems heavy.
Northern Illinois
Synod World Hunger Committee |
