Parable 22 - Rabbit

James and Beth were watching their granddaughter, Susan, who was affectionately known as Rabbit.

As a baby, Rabbit actually learned to hop before she learned to walk.

James told his wife, “Now that she is with us for the week, we have a chance, really an obligation, to teach her about God.”

“Our daughter has asked us not to do that,” Beth replied. “And I told her we would honor her wishes.”

“But we have a responsibility to do it,” James said. “It’s not optional. As Christian grandparents we will be disobeying God if we don’t explain our faith to her. We have to take her to church. We have to teach her nighttime prayers. We have to make sure she knows about Jesus. I think we should get her to memorize the Ten Commandments before she goes home.”

“Dear,” Beth said, “I want her to know about God as much as you do, but just because our daughter is not going to church doesn’t mean Rabbit is not learning about the Ten Commandments. She’s just not using that language.”

“What do you mean?”

Beth explained, “I mean that Rabbit already knows not to say bad words or speak poorly of people. And they take every Sunday off from work and spend time together as a family. So, I think that Rabbit already knows not to take the Lord’s name in vain and to honor the Lord’s Day. There you have it; they are following the first two commandments.”

“There are Ten Commandments, not two,” James retorted.

“Well, let’s jump to the one that seems most relevant to this situation.” Beth moved a little closer to her husband. “Thou shall not lie. Interesting, isn’t it? You want to teach this to Rabbit, but I’ve already told you that I promised our daughter that we would honor her wishes and not talk about religion with Rabbit.”

James paused and thought about this. “You’re saying we would have to lie to teach her the commandment not to lie?”

“Exactly,” Beth said, “but more importantly, I’m saying Rabbit already knows that it is important to tell the truth, and she knows not to covet her neighbor’s goods. She doesn’t know that language, but our daughter is exemplary when it comes to not living a materialistic life.”

“But shouldn’t Rabbit learn about Jesus? Don’t we have an obligation to teach her about the Savior of the World?”

Beth drew in a long slow breath. “We do have that obligation. I like to remember what St. Paul said, ‘I am all things to all people.’ In this case, we can teach Rabbit about Jesus through loving our daughter and her daughter, just as we believe Jesus does.”

Meditation

Millions of American grandparents are going through a similar scenario. Today’s scripture is Moses telling the Israelites not to forget to teach the Ten Commandments to their offspring. Many grandparents have found it difficult to talk with their adult children about religion. The vast majority of young adults are not going to church. Many of them don’t want grandparents to talk to their grandchildren about God or faith. Unfortunately, many young adults associate the term “Christian” with a vindictive, judgmental, hypocritical person.

How do we correct this? More often than not, our children are doing as well as we are when it comes to being truthful, loving, caring people.

We need pathways, like St. Paul, to reach all people in ways that fill them with the love of God. Lent is a great time to explore those paths.

So, let’s hop to it. No doubt, on your journey, you’ll encounter your own little Rabbit.

Water the seed and ask yourself...

How can I best share my faith with people I love?