How Many Times do I have to Tell You?

I love the Abraham year.

In Level III (4th-6th grade) CGS we have five typologies that we work through on a three year cycle: Creation and Sin in year one, Flood and Abraham in year two, and Moses in year three. I really do enjoy each one, but I think Abraham is my favorite.

Typology studies are as much a gift to us catechists as they are to the children. This is my third time through Abraham since beginning Level III in CGS, and I learn something new every time. To start, we spend several weeks reading the account in the Old Testament. In the case of Abraham, we read several passages from Genesis and use a few card/description packets to help us understand what Abraham's time and life was like. One child was inspired to make a card packet of his own "Ankeny life" in comparison with Abraham's nomadic life.

Our weeks and weeks of reading and studying and waiting for the son of the promise, Isaac, to be born were nothing compared to Abraham's 25 year wait. The children's jubilation at Isaac's birth is quickly turned to sorrow and pain as we immediately follow his birth story with the Genesis 22 account of that fateful day when Abraham was "put to the test." It began with that same voice that Abraham had heard so many years before.

Answering the First Time

"Abraham!" God called.

"Ready!" replied Abraham.

The exchange that follows is so difficult to understand in a world that has been formed by 3800 years of monotheism. What? God is asking Abraham to offer his "only one, whom you love" and offer him on a "height I will show you"? What is going on here?

It is helpful that in our atrium we had lived with the children the previous 4 weeks in the world of Abraham. Abraham didn't know the future. He was the only person in the whole world who believed in the One, True God. He was surrounded by polytheists who had allegiances all over the place or by henotheists who were singularly dedicated to their own god, but didn't believe that their god was the only one. It was not unusual for religious people at that time to prove their love and devotion to their particular god by laying down the most important thing, or even the most important person, in their life.

When God calls Abraham, Abraham's response makes us think that Abraham was expecting this request. The Lord calls his name only once. "Ready!" he replied.

So often, looking back on this event after nearly 4 millennia, we can only respond with horror, wondering how or why God could do this. But, as we point out to the children in the atrium, the really shocking thing about this story is not so much that Abraham, a man of his own time, would be "ready" to do this, but that God stopped him. Many years later, through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord tells his people that human sacrifice is something that the One, True God never "considered, or said, or commanded" (Jer 19:5, cf. Jer 32:35).

"Abraham! Abraham!" 

Abraham was ready to obey the Lord at the first call, but I find it very interesting that it did take calling his name two times for God to convince Abraham to stop. The Lord was training up the very first monotheist. Abraham, our father in faith, had to have a pure heart in serving the One, True God. Not even the promise, not even the son, could be more central to his life than God. Abraham was so ready to make the sacrifice of obedience that God had to tell him twice to lay down the knife. The Lord asks us for everything, but He doesn't always take it.

In the coming weeks, we will continue to study Abraham, but this time in light of the revelation of Jesus Christ in the New Testament (typology). How many times can we read and study His Word and still let it escape our notice that our God loves us so much that He turned history and the whole idea of sacrifice on its head? 

As Abraham tells his son on the way to Mt. Moriah, "The Lord Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice" (Gen 22:19). And so it happened.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Patient, Prudent, Peaceful People

*WHACK!* "WAAAAHHHH!" No home with small children is ever totally free from sound effects like these.

Before the *whack*, there may be words like, "Hey, that's mine!" or some other complaint of unfairness, but when the poor parent who turned his back for just a moment on children who seemed to be playing peacefully returns to a puddle of tears and cries, there's really only one response: "Well, that escalated quickly."

Why does this happen? How can we stop living at DEFCON 4.5 all of the time in our homes? As I was talking to a friend whose toddler and preschooler have recently made Sibling War Games a thing, I got an idea that helped me to understand the root of violence not only in my children but also in myself: impatience.

Peaceful negotiations and the attempt to come to mutually-agreeable resolutions tend to take more time and a lot more thought. If in my mind the justice of the thing is clear cut ("That's my thing. You took it. I'm taking it back.") then I'm far more likely to skip the stage where we try to work things out, and just cut to the chase and take my thing back, regardless of who gets whacked along the way.

What is a peaceful person, really? He or she is someone who values communion enough to move slowly and carefully when fighting for justice, even when he knows he is right.

Take Abraham, for example. There is a story in Genesis, right before the famous story of Isaac and Mt. Moriah, where Abraham is meeting with a king who was feigning ignorance that his men had unjustly seized a well ABRAHAM dug. Abraham was a peaceful man, and it seems that he did all he could to avoid a fight. He had every right to tell his own men to go and take the well back by force. Wells were very important to the desert nomads, and this was kind of a big deal. Abraham showed incredible skill and patience in dealing with the king by giving the king seven ewe lambs as part of a pact. The king was confused. since the pact they agreed on didn't include ewe lambs which are a very valuable gift (that keeps on giving!)  Here's a paraphrase of their conversation in Genesis 21:

Abraham: About this well... Your guys seized it by force. It's my well.
King: Well? What's a well? Never heard of it. Don't know what you're talking about.
Abraham: Hmmm.. Well, let's make the pact we came here to make.
King: Sounds good. Hey, why are you giving me these seven ewe lambs?
Abraham: Oh, those? Those I give you in exchange for your agreement that the well was dug by me.
King: *reduced to silence* Uh, of course. Thanks.
Abraham: *whistles a tune as he walks away*

Amazing. I don't think it ever would have occurred to me to make a personal sacrifice in order to buy back my own thing, but Abraham was able to preserve an important alliance and friendship (even when the king didn't seem to mind throwing it away) AND he got his own well back. Win-win.

As Jesus says in the beatitudes, God's children are peaceful people. As we seek to raise children (and ourselves) to be people of peace, maybe the virtues of patience and a good deal of prudence are a good place to start. Peace takes time and work. But it is worth the effort. If we can make our families more peaceful, it is a great beginning to bringing about a more peaceful world.