The Differences We Speak. (Sunday Thoughts Link Up #50)
I SAMUEL 19:4-5
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
I SAMUEL 20:41-42
41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.
42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
David was a country boy, a shepherd, a poet, a good-looking, music-loving fiery kid. Jonathan was an heir to a kingdom, refined, cultured, poised at the tipping point of power. There is nothing in the world that should have drawn these two together in such a fiercely devoted way. Except, well, something in one soul spoke to something in the other. Enough for Jonathan to throw away his chance at king. Enough for David to trust his life in the hands of his enemy’s son…enough to make them blood brothers for life.
I am in awe of God for this friendship. I see Him as the giant clockmaker and we the little ticking pieces, each one a work of art, a hidden miasma of swirling gears and complex workings that are so intricate, no amount of introspection could ever let us fully know ourselves. But God knows. And He knows what we need from the people around us.
I think it is absolutely a testament to God’s genius that He gave me a spouse who is a night owl while I am up before dawn. I think it is amazing that He had a writer marry a computer analyst and then have three children that, if possible, are polar opposites of each other and yet, when you piece us together, we are a highly functioning team of loving individuals. People often part the waters for us, when they see Charlie coming in his wheelchair. It used to bother me to stand out like that. Now I see it for what it is—it knits me to my family and lends strength to our unit. We are a team running the field. We are wildly weird, but we are, when seen at a distance, a solid thing.
I think it is amazing that God created Republicans and Democrats and lefties and righties and men and women and Northerners and Southerners and all the yins and yangs in between. I see the world fighting over differences now more than ever. And yet, when I think of David and Jonathan, I cannot help but think that God wants us to keep our differences in tact…to celebrate the unique wonder that humanity is when looked at from all its angles. I know we are fallen. I know we are living in a sinful world. But I also know that we have much to celebrate.
C.S. Lewis said in The Problem of Pain:
I am considering not how, but why, He makes each soul unique. If He had no use for all these differences, I do not see why He should have created more souls than one. Be sure that the ins and outs of your individuality are no mystery to Him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you. The mold in which a key is made would be a strange thing, if you had never seen a key: and the key itself a strange thing if you had never seen a lock. Your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the Divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions.
Today, I want to celebrate all those keyhole souls whose unique shape will one day fill up teeming mansions in heaven. And I can guarantee you, every room will have its own color palette, every wall different painting, every window another view, and every breeze another song drifting by.
Sunday Thoughts Link Up!
It’s time for another Sunday Thoughts Link-Up! I know there are many out there with wisdom that could encourage all of us. As long as it’s faith-based, I’d love for you to join up and then read and comment on what others have shared. Please also leave a comment here. Think of this as a Sunday morning community group that comes to you. And grab the button if you like…
Sunday Thoughts Weekly Reminder
Sign up to get a reminder each week when the Sunday Thoughts Link Up goes live!
A big thank you from Jamie on The Mom Gene!
