A Different Way of Looking
Illustration
Stories
“My parents raised me in the church.” Charlene leaned against the desk in their residence room. “So to answer your question, I guess I’ve always had faith.”
“Really?” Jody flopped on the bed in the other side of the room. “You can’t ever remember a time when you didn’t believe?”
Charlene thought for a moment. “I’ve certainly had doubts but those are the things that actually confirmed my faith. Like when Nan died in the car accident.”
Jody sat up against the wall and considered her friend. “You kept your faith because your grandmother died unexpectedly?”
“Yeah.” Charlene sighed and sat down in the chair next to the desk. “All because it was the absolute worst time in my life.”
“Ok. I’m now officially lost,” Jody said. “How can the something terrible be a good thing for you?”
“Her death wasn’t a good thing. Losing Nan was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through.”
“I know you were crying nonstop when it first happened and there were lots of tears at her funeral.” Jody tilted her head to one side. “Yet I remember people laughing too like when the pastor told the story about her and the chicken.”
“Yeah, she never really lived that down.” Charlene smiled. “The chicken story was Nan to a tee.”
“I guess I never imagined that you could laugh at a funeral because I mean death is awful.” Jody paused. “The funeral though was actually really nice. People were sad but they were also thankful that they knew her.”
“Yeah.” Charlene nodded.“ Losing Nan was awful but coming together made it easier to face. Nan had great faith all her life so thanking God for her only made sense. Plus I believe she is with God.”
“So your faith helped you through that rough time?” Jody sat up on the bed with her back to the wall. “That actually makes sense to me given what I saw.”
“Absolutely,” Charlene said. “I guess too that my faith grew because of it.”
“Hold up a moment.” Jody narrowed her eyes. “I thought faith was something that you either have or don’t have? How can it grow once you have it?”
“You know how seeds grow, right?”
“Sure, I remember high school biology class even if I didn’t get a great mark.” Jody tapped her chin. “The seed breaks open and the plant grows from it.”
“All at once?”
“Of course not, a little bit at a time. First the roots, then a shoot, then leaves and it gets bigger as time goes on.”
“That’s one of the parables that Jesus uses to talk about the kingdom of God.” Charlene flipped open her Bible. “He talks about a seed that is planted and grows.”
“So what does heaven have to do with faith?” Jody held up her hand. “Okay, I know you have to have faith to get to heaven but you know what I mean.”
“The kingdom of God isn’t just place we go to after death but also what grows in us,” Charlene said. “We become part of what God is doing, part of the kingdom of God on earth when we believe and live out our faith.”
“And that happens over time?”
“Over time and when we take the time to grow through prayer, reading the Bible, being part of the church, and following Jesus in our lives in so many other ways.” Charlene took a deep breath. “Through faith we become something greater than we imagine because we become part of what God is about in the world. That’s part of what Jesus is saying in the parables.”
Jody frowned. “I thought parables were just little teaching stories with a simply meaning like ‘everyone is your neighbor.’”
“We can read them that way but what they teach us is about God and God’s way. The more you think about the stories Jesus told the more you seem to understand about faith and God,” Charlene said. “I guess parables themselves are like faith in that you don’t simply understand them or not but you understand more the more you pray about them and study them.”
Jody sighed. “I thought there was going to be an easy answer when I asked you if you’d always had faith.”
“There isn’t an easy answer about faith because faith is about how we live with and for God in this world and life isn’t simple, is it?”
“No, it certainly isn’t.” Jody looked at her phone for a moment. “I’ve got an hour or so before class. What about you?”
“I don’t have anything until after lunch.” Charlene frowned. “Why?”
“How about you read me some more of those parables and we talk about them a bit?”
Charlene smiled and rolled her chair over to the bed. “Nothing would make me happier.”
For the next hour they talked about parables and the kingdom of God grew within them.
“Really?” Jody flopped on the bed in the other side of the room. “You can’t ever remember a time when you didn’t believe?”
Charlene thought for a moment. “I’ve certainly had doubts but those are the things that actually confirmed my faith. Like when Nan died in the car accident.”
Jody sat up against the wall and considered her friend. “You kept your faith because your grandmother died unexpectedly?”
“Yeah.” Charlene sighed and sat down in the chair next to the desk. “All because it was the absolute worst time in my life.”
“Ok. I’m now officially lost,” Jody said. “How can the something terrible be a good thing for you?”
“Her death wasn’t a good thing. Losing Nan was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through.”
“I know you were crying nonstop when it first happened and there were lots of tears at her funeral.” Jody tilted her head to one side. “Yet I remember people laughing too like when the pastor told the story about her and the chicken.”
“Yeah, she never really lived that down.” Charlene smiled. “The chicken story was Nan to a tee.”
“I guess I never imagined that you could laugh at a funeral because I mean death is awful.” Jody paused. “The funeral though was actually really nice. People were sad but they were also thankful that they knew her.”
“Yeah.” Charlene nodded.“ Losing Nan was awful but coming together made it easier to face. Nan had great faith all her life so thanking God for her only made sense. Plus I believe she is with God.”
“So your faith helped you through that rough time?” Jody sat up on the bed with her back to the wall. “That actually makes sense to me given what I saw.”
“Absolutely,” Charlene said. “I guess too that my faith grew because of it.”
“Hold up a moment.” Jody narrowed her eyes. “I thought faith was something that you either have or don’t have? How can it grow once you have it?”
“You know how seeds grow, right?”
“Sure, I remember high school biology class even if I didn’t get a great mark.” Jody tapped her chin. “The seed breaks open and the plant grows from it.”
“All at once?”
“Of course not, a little bit at a time. First the roots, then a shoot, then leaves and it gets bigger as time goes on.”
“That’s one of the parables that Jesus uses to talk about the kingdom of God.” Charlene flipped open her Bible. “He talks about a seed that is planted and grows.”
“So what does heaven have to do with faith?” Jody held up her hand. “Okay, I know you have to have faith to get to heaven but you know what I mean.”
“The kingdom of God isn’t just place we go to after death but also what grows in us,” Charlene said. “We become part of what God is doing, part of the kingdom of God on earth when we believe and live out our faith.”
“And that happens over time?”
“Over time and when we take the time to grow through prayer, reading the Bible, being part of the church, and following Jesus in our lives in so many other ways.” Charlene took a deep breath. “Through faith we become something greater than we imagine because we become part of what God is about in the world. That’s part of what Jesus is saying in the parables.”
Jody frowned. “I thought parables were just little teaching stories with a simply meaning like ‘everyone is your neighbor.’”
“We can read them that way but what they teach us is about God and God’s way. The more you think about the stories Jesus told the more you seem to understand about faith and God,” Charlene said. “I guess parables themselves are like faith in that you don’t simply understand them or not but you understand more the more you pray about them and study them.”
Jody sighed. “I thought there was going to be an easy answer when I asked you if you’d always had faith.”
“There isn’t an easy answer about faith because faith is about how we live with and for God in this world and life isn’t simple, is it?”
“No, it certainly isn’t.” Jody looked at her phone for a moment. “I’ve got an hour or so before class. What about you?”
“I don’t have anything until after lunch.” Charlene frowned. “Why?”
“How about you read me some more of those parables and we talk about them a bit?”
Charlene smiled and rolled her chair over to the bed. “Nothing would make me happier.”
For the next hour they talked about parables and the kingdom of God grew within them.
