Tag Archives: Simple Sabbath

Faith

Simple Sabbath: Hope is in the Eye of the Needle

Mark 10:17-27

Maybe you’ve read this passage before, or perhaps a similar passage in Matthew or Luke.

The story is basically this: Jesus was ministering one day and a rich guy runs to him as Jesus is about to leave, falls on his knees and asks how he can inherit eternal life.  Jesus gives him the standard 10 commandment “don’ts” and the rich guy states he has kept all these commandments since his youth.  Then Jesus goes on to direct the guy to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor and follow him.

At this, rich guy gets bummed out and leaves because he has a lot of stuff.  Jesus tells his disciples it’s easier for a camel to make its way through the eye of a needle than the rich to go to heaven but, that through God, “all things are possible”.

I love the reading of this passage in Mark, particularly, because it states that Jesus looked at him and loved him.  Won’t it be cool some day when Jesus looks at you that way?

This passage has given me a lot of reason to pause and think over the years because so many people like to write the end of the rich guy’s story in a negative frame.  But I’d caution you; the end of this particular story is not written in the Bible. So many folks just assume that the rich guy did not do as Jesus instructed him, but we don’t know whether he did or not.  I’ve heard people use this passage as New Testament justification for the death penalty.  But this passage ends with hope: “with God all things are possible.” In other words, rich guys getting into heaven and camels getting through needle eyes.

I encourage you to find the hope Jesus’ disciples were presented on that day.

Grandmother's Memoirs, Homestead and Garden, Oklahoma culture

Simple Sabbath: My Grandmother’s Memoirs

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A few months ago I asked my grandmother whether or not she would be willing to sit down with me, allowing me to conduct interviews with her about her life.  She surprised me by saying she had already written down many of her memories; her son had asked her to do that some time ago.  Weeks later, I saw her at a family dinner and she had a yellow Spiral Mead notebook with her.  On the cover written in ink was, “1988, The Life of Emma Lee Coward Bomgardner, Bennett – Tuttle, Oklahoma.”  She told me she had to look a little while for it, but had found her work.

I took the notebook and let her know I would transcribe what she had written, clean it up a bit, then send it to her for review.  The goal was to then send it out to the family.

Last night I began the task of reading her handwritten notes.  I was surprised at how much information was there and appreciated that her narrative echoed her true voice.  Not many periods, quite a few commas, and no erasing…just, freestyle.

This job is going to take quite a bit of time, but I’ve already decided the rewards will be much greater than the investment.  She began writing at age sixty-six.  Her first memory penned was how her mother took her and her siblings to visit their grandparent’s home.  She said they had to cross a bridge in order to reach their destination and the horse balked at the idea of making the pass.  She recalls being terribly frightened as her mother wrestled with managing the horse, eventually coaxing him across the bridge.

I know that adrenaline helps embed memories, and from reading through these pages I can see how and why she might have recalled and written the stories she did.  I’m about fifteen percent through the transcription, but today after reading the struggles manifested by the Great Depression…I’m very grateful for what we have.

We are certainly a blessed nation and a blessed family.  May God continue to richly bless you and yours.

~Red Dirt Kelly

**1/16/11 Note: “One Voice of the Oklahoma Prairie: My Grandmother’s Memoirs” is now being published.  Check THIS LINK to see the posts each week until they’re finished.