A Stately Sticker Factory Fable

It's StoryADay Saturday, and the prompt for Day Two of Story-A-Day May was to "write a story or a scene in a setting you have never used before. It can be somewhere you have been or somewhere you have always wanted to go. It can be real or imagined." Since I'd never written fiction before, this one was pretty easy 😉.

A Stately Sticker Factory Fable

At precisely 5 pm, the whistle at Stately Sticker sounds to end the workday. The owners, Lickem Stately, Stickem Stately, Andhow Stately, and their sister, Mildred begin walking through the factory, making sure machines are shut down and offices are locked up for the evening. Just before their father retired, turning over the business to his children, they had divided the building into quadrants, each heir taking responsibility for their assigned area. For years Lickem walked the first floor, Stickem took the second, Andhow had the third, and Mildred had the responsibility of the very top floor. But, when the whistle sounded, and the Statelys began their walks, Lickem, Stickem, Andhow would encounter all sorts of problems while Mildred did not. The brothers began to wonder if, perhaps, Mildred was overlooking things on her floor. 

One day, just after the whistle sounded and the Statelys began to scatter to start their walks, Lickem yelled, "STOP!" The other siblings abruptly turned around. "I think," Lickem continued, today we should reverse. I will take the top floor today. Stickem, you take the third. Andhow will walk the second, and Mildred, you walk the first." The others shrugged and headed off to walk their newly assigned floors.

As Lickem began, he discovered a pipe leaking on the top floor of the factory. Water flowing freely throughout a sticker factory could result in a huge disaster. Lickem walked the length of the pipe and found the shutoff. He wrenched on the valve with all his might and the water stopped.

Just after Stickem began to walk the third floor, he discovered an outside door to the paper room left open. Paper being blown throughout a sticker factory could result in a huge disaster. Stickem walked over to the door, searched through his ring for the proper key, and pulled the door shut with all his might, locking it securely.

Andhow, carefully checking the second floor, discovered the large lid to one of the vats of adhesive had come unsecured and the glue was uncovered. Gallons of glue left to harden in the air overnight could result in a huge disaster. Andhow climbed the step ladder, grabbed the handle on the lid, and slammed it down tightly on the vat of adhesive.

And, Mildred? Well, she walked the entire first floor of the factory and found everything just as it should be. The pipes were good. The paper was stacked. The glue was covered. Everything at Stately Sticker Factory was secure and intact.

The four Statelys met at the bottom of the steps on the first floor and gave their reports. Lickem, Stickem, Andhow, and Mildred exchanged glances and shrugged. The day was over and Mildred had once again encountered no issues. The four siblings headed out the door. 

The moral of the story? If you want the job done right, ask Mildred. It doesn't matter where you sticker, she'll get the job done.

I've Got a Question

If you've ever had employees or students or children report to you, you know. You ask a lot of questions, particularly the ones to which you already have answers. Ones like, "Well, did you study for the test?" or "Did you clean your room today?" They are teaching questions, coaching the person to recognize where they might be responsible for their own failure or problem. They're also testing questions, revealing whether the person will openly admit their culpability. And they are merciful questions, allowing the person an opportunity to admit wrongdoing or apologize for their error, thereby, softening your heart toward them despite their offense. 

One of the best illustrations of God as Father is right at the start of human history, in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve were instructed of their limitation within the Garden of Eden. That's right, limitation. Just one. And they violated it. So what did God do? Did He strike them dead right then and there? Nope. Did His thunderous voice beckon, "Hey, you two! Get over here right now!"? Nope.

"And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." ~Genesis 3:8

God went for a walk. Adam and Eve hid. God looks on hearts; nothing in creation is hidden from Him: He knew what they'd done and He knew where they were, but mercifully, God asked Adam, "Where are you?" (v.9) Now, Scripture tells us that Adam and Eve hid, then God called them, but Adam explains it was God's voice and his own nakedness that prompted him to hide (v. 10). Was Adam, in some way, trying to excuse his flight by saying it was God's fault? "Well, You sounded so angry and fearsome; You terrified me." So, God asked two more questions to which He already had the answer. "Who told you you were naked?" and "Have you done what I told you not to do?" (paraphrase mine, v.11) Such a "dad" thing to do, isn't it? Not once did He accuse or berate them. Instead, He drew them closer to Himself. He asked questions, opening the lines of communication Adam and Eve were clearly trying to cut. Despite their offense, He wooed them back to Himself.

And He does the same with all His children. He pursues them. He asks the questions that will cause them to look upon their sin and their attempts to escape. He causes them to check their location and realize they are outside His presence and His will. He asks whose voice they've been following. He allows His love for them, demonstrated through His commandments, to unfold before their eyes so they might confess their rebellion and turn to Him. And He welcomes all who would repent. No question about it.

A Happy Ending

And they lived happily ever after. 

Perhaps your grandchildren curl up on your lap from time to time, and you read fairytales together. Princes and princesses always live happily ever after. Or maybe you recall just how cut-and-dried things seemed when you were younger: everything always worked out well. Then came Junior High literature. All of these open-ended narratives and tragedies. I remember disliking my literature classes immensely; pathos just didn't work for me. I'm no psychologist, but knowing how important security is to small children, I assume that's why they need things to end so happily in the stories we share with them. As we grow, however, we need the literary experience of things not quite turning out as we would like. It's almost as though when real-life disappointments come, we've been prepared through the characters we've come to meet in books. Once in a while, though, everyone can use a happy ending -- whether it's on a page or in our lives. 

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." All things, for good. What a wonderful promise! Well, it is, but the caveat is, it's not for everyone. I've heard lots of people say, "Everything always works out, right?" or "All things work together for good, right?" but the verse in its entirety is "to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Not for everyone; not for those who do not meet the criteria, and it's important we speak the truth in love.

But, for those who love God, for those called by Him unto salvation? "All things work together for good." Now, that doesn't mean terrible things stop happening just because your life has been committed to the Lord. In fact, sometimes it seems more the opposite. But things given to God-- money, time, talent, sickness, poverty, pain --can all be used for His glory and our good. Even cancer? Yep. Unemployment? Yep. Divorce? Yep. Injustice and tyranny? If you are a child of God, He can work out any persecution, discrimination, false accusation, or even wrongful imprisonment for your good and His glory. There's no need to panic. And when the troubles come those close to Him can hear Him whisper, "This is going to happen, and I need you to go through this, but I'm not leaving -- not for a second. I will be with you as you go and you will live happily ever after, forever." That's not a fairytale.

At the Risk of Offending You...

Americans seem to be so easily offended these days. Perhaps it's because we are so self-centered. Rather than assume someone is pointing something out as a means to make us better or even begin a discussion, we go right to insult and negate anything that could be beneficial. We refuse to see good in others and judge them strictly by their actions, while we tend to evaluate ourselves by our intentions. Or perhaps it's because we are so fearful. We have nothing in our lives to hold onto and hope for; we perceive offenses and danger under every rock and, like cornered animals, strike at anyone who gets too close. Or perhaps it's because we are just so spoiled and weak. Yeon-mi Park, a defector from North Korea and now an American citizen, has said the current social climate and indoctrination at some of America's top universities are reminiscent of life under a dictatorship. She also called an athlete who protested the playing of the national anthem "spoiled," saying she doesn't know how good she has it. Any one of these things-- ego, fear, privilege --or some combination, could be the reason for such a propensity to offense. 

The Bible tells us the gospel is an offense, foolishness to those who are perishing and the aroma of death. As our pastor would say, "Not exactly one of those passages of Scripture you'd find on a refrigerator magnet." Jesus Himself is described as "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." So how do you share such offensive news with the world? Well, if you're Peter, you tell a group of Jews that they themselves are responsible for the death of their own awaited Messiah. And if you're Paul, you ride into a foreign region and tell a crowd of idol-worshipping citizens to turn from their "useless things" to the living God. How is that for offense? After Peter's sermon, three thousand people came to follow Jesus. Paul received a different response: they wanted to worship him and his coworker, Barnabas, thinking them to be gods! These men did not hold back in their preaching; they gave the masses the straight truth. They were bold; they did not "leave out the messy parts;" they did not fear offending anyone. In obedience, they spoke the words placed in their mouths by the Holy Spirit, and God blessed their work. 

Honestly, I don't think people today are much different from those in the days of the early church. The people Peter and Paul encountered were religious. They worshipped their own deeds or they worshipped created idols, and they didn't want to leave behind their old way of doing things. Sound familiar? The Bible tells us "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). I think it's time we stop sugar-coating and dumbing down the good news of Jesus. It's time we stop reinventing the gospel to make it more palatable to the world. It's time we stop focusing on people living their "best life now," and start focusing on pleasing the perfect, holy, eternal, almighty God of the Universe. People want to know if they measure up. They want to know where they came from and where they're going, and they want to know how to know. Those that don't will probably be offended. But since it is God who looks on the heart, let us obediently speak boldly in love and let God handle their offense.

You're Free!

'I just heard the inmates knocking on the walls and the cell and said "Bill, you're free Bill! You're free, Bill",' Cosby said, according to Wyatt. 'I didn't know what was going on.'

I'm not sure how you feel about Bill Cosby's recent release from prison, but when I saw the video of his publicist relating how the police came knocking on Cosby's cell door, I couldn't help but feel a bit of the excitement myself. What would it feel like to be in prison, going to bed, thinking tomorrow was going to be the same routine as every day before, and awakening to the sounds of people knocking on your cell, shouting that you're free? Crazy, right? He had to be a bit dazed. Did he think he was dreaming? Did he roll the word around in his mind a couple times? Free. I'm free. Me? Free? It must have sounded wonderful to him.

To those who have testified to being victims and their families, however, free probably didn't sound so good. Free may have sounded painful, heartbreaking, infuriating, or a bit like betrayal. Free may have sounded like being victimized all over again. But I'm really not interested in weighing in on the case at all. My interest is in the word "free" and how it can sound so different to different people. 

For instance, "free will." Have you ever heard that term as it applies to the gospel? We have the will to choose whether we will love and serve God or not. I woke up this morning very grateful for the opportunity to love God and express that love toward Him. Loving someone is a privilege. Have you ever seen those sitcoms where a girl is crushing on some boy at school? "He doesn't even know you're alive," a friend says. "But I love him!" the other weeps. The plot will usually reveal it's a fleeting fancy; but the point is, he has not allowed her into his life. She cannot actively love him or lavish on him expressions of her affection without him allowing it. God allows us to choose to love Him and adore Him. He is the Creator of everything, the God of the Universe, and He cares what we think and feel about Him. He cares that we are able to express our love toward Him. What a privilege!

Then there's the free will of others which may not seem so great. For anyone who knows someone in self-destruct mode, the last thing you want is for them to be able to choose to self-destruct over and over, day after day. Whether it's addiction or idolatry or arrogance-- whatever it is that has them on the fast track to rejecting Jesus and choosing eternal death --you want it stopped! You might even want them locked up or laid up, unable to escape God's demands on their undivided attention. If they're your adult children, you might have had visions of putting them over your knee and spanking some sense back into them. "Free will is awful!" you might say to yourself; and although You know He doesn't work this way, "God, why can't You just zap them into surrendering their lives to You?" 

Praise God for His blessed assurance! We can know that if our loved ones are called by the Lord to adoption, He will see His work to fruition. Rest in His promises and pray without ceasing. By God's grace, our faithful petitions will be granted and those we have lifted to the Lord will one day know the joy of answering His call, of falling in love with Him of their own free will.