There was a minister who served in a rural parish for several years before pursuing a career in teaching. He lived on a farm while he served in the pastorate. One Sunday morning he was puttering about the barn before church when his three-year-old daughter came running in, holding out her pudgy little hand. She said, “Look what I found, Daddy. Isn’t it pretty?”
My friend saw the morning sunlight glisten on the object in her hand. It was a double-edged razor blade. He thought to himself, how do I get that blade out of her hand? If I try to take it away from her, she will clutch it tighter, and if she does that, she may cut herself badly enough to scar her hand for life. So he said, “Honey, that is very dangerous. It will cut you. You must not close your hand. You must give it to Daddy.”
“But it’s mine,” she squealed. “I found it!”
“Yes, I know, but it is dangerous. You must let me take it.”
He stepped closer, and she began to close her tiny hand.
“Don’t do that, Honey, “he said. “It will cut you, and then I will have to take you to Dr. Jones.”
“I like Dr. Jones,” she answered, smiling. “He gives me suckers when I go.”
It is not easy for a theologian to reason with a three-year-old.
Finally, my friend assumed a curious attitude about his daughter’s new-found treasure. “It certainly is pretty,” he said. “May I take a look at it?” He cupped her little palm in his, and while he shared her pleasure in the find, he gently pulled back her fingers one by one till he could lift the deadly instrument from her hand.
When Jesus comes into your life and says, “Let me take over,”…whatever you do, do not close your hand on the things that you hold. Give them all to Jesus.
- Dennis Kinlaw
Praxis: Faith in Action 