Once A Parent, Always ...
It was a chilly day, overcast and wet, when three cars crashed into each other, one behind the other, hoods crunched, trunks caved in, and drivers standing on the side of the road waiting for wreckers. The police were already on the scene when I drove past. A short time later, I arrived at the doctor's office and heard the traffic accident being discussed between a patient and a secretary.
At one point the secretary said her father was always calling her when it was raining or even thinking about rain! She is, she said, twenty-seven years old, driving cars for ten years, and her father stilled called to warn her to be careful on the road. I piped up and said, "Once a parent, always a parent." Makes no difference how old your children are, you are always concerned about their safety. The secretary was light-hearted about her dad's seemingly constant advice, and I understood her point of view. All of us have re-sented our parents at one time or another for, we think, sticking their noses into our busi-ness, yet "once a parent, always a parent." (I am absolutely certain my four daughters can identify with this secretary!)
But if it is true that "once a parent, always a parent," isn't it just as true that "once a child, always a child?" In a sense that too is true, even if, as in my case, I have outlived both my parents. And, if we can extend this discussion just a bit, isn't it true that God is al-ways a parent and we are always his children, no matter how old we become? In the deeper recesses of our consciences, don't we hear, at least now and then, words of warn-ing from a familiar Source? Don't we hear the Father trying to help us to be safe, re-minding us that it is dangerous out there, that we can be a victim even if we don't intend to be? And don't we hear words of acceptance, of assurance, of love from God?
One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 131. In the New Revised Standard Version it reads,
"O LORD, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child
that is with me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time on
and forevermore.
Not bad for a man who was the head of state - King David! David remembered that he is always a child and God is always the Father. Even as king, David tried to keep those lines clear. And he wants to be a good child, a child at rest, a child comforted, a child assured. In Matthew's Gospel our Lord taught us to pray to God as "Our Father," as the best father we can possibly think of, as a father who protects, provides for, and keeps us safe. That's not bad, whether you are seven or seventy! Even with God, once a parent, always a parent. And…even with you and me… once a child, always a child.
Lord, help me to be an appreciative and attentive child.
J. L. Mercer
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