Parable 21 - Little Artists

Liz didn’t see that her little sister Inge was watching her. Liz had her markers in her hand, and she was so bored that she decided to draw a picture on the wall between the bathroom and her bedroom. Brimming with nine-year-old artistic talent, Liz drew a large tree with bright green leaves, a sturdy brown trunk, and black birds in its branches.

Inge was inspired by her older sister. With her five-year-old artistic talent, she began to draw a picture of a tree on her sister’s bedroom wall between her closet and the door. She quietly scribbled a brown crayon across the wall. She made the brown trunk start at the floor and go as high as she could reach. Then she used four different shades of green to make the leaves. She had trouble with the birds, but she used yellows, oranges, and reds to make them.

Dad discovered Liz’s hallway picture. “What have you done?” he shouted. “Look at my white wall. You bad little girl. How could you do this? You know better than that!”

Liz said, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to make something beautiful on this rainy day, and I’m tired of little sheets of paper.”

“Oh, you’re tired of little sheets of paper, are you? That’s all you will be using for this next week. You’re grounded. You are not to leave the house or play with your friends all week.”

“No Daddy, please. I’ll clean it up.”

“You can’t clean this up,” her dad said. “Those markers won’t wash off.”

“I’ll clean the house. I’ll help paint the wall. Please forgive me.”

Dad sighed and looked at the tree on the wall. It actually was artistic. His heart softened. “OK, if you do the vacuuming and the dishes this week, I won’t ground you.”

A few minutes later, Liz went into her room and discovered the picture that her little sister had scribbled in crayon all over her wall.

“You little punk! I’m going to kill you. You’re not even allowed in my room!”

“I’m sorry,” Inge said. “I was trying to draw a beautiful picture like you. I thought it would be fun to do it on the wall like you did. It’s my present to you.”

Meditation

Let’s stop the story right here. If you were Liz, what would you do? Could you forgive your little sister? In our scripture story, the master has forgiven his servant a large debt, but that servant refuses to give others the same forgiveness.

There is a challenge in this gospel beyond the verses we have selected.

The scripture instructs us not just to forgive, but to forgive from the heart.

Of course, Liz could tell her little sister that she forgives her. But there is a big difference between forgiving because you have to and forgiving from the heart. Most of us know that we can still be mad at a person we say we forgive.

Jesus challenges us to embrace the deeper level of forgiveness. We can’t do it on our own. We can say we forgive from the heart, but the softening of our heart is a grace from God. It is well worth asking for this grace. The forgiveness that we offer to others, we shall receive as well, but those things we don’t forgive come back on us. Just ask the wicked, selfish servant from the scripture.

As we move through the middle of Lent, let us strive for a forgiving heart. Hopefully, the picture we see on the wall is one that fills our hearts with God’s joy.

As it turned out, Liz did forgive her little sister, and she decided to keep the little artist’s picture on her wall. It made her smile every time she looked at it.

Now that’s a picture of how to forgive from the heart.

Water the seed and ask yourself...

What softening of the heart am I asking for?