TO HUMBLE AND TO OBEY…

Avianna. She is the sweetest two-year old I have met, well, so far. Spending a few weeks with her early last year; we bonded over music, food, Pilates and chores. She could mop the floor with her tiny hands and carry littered food to the bin. She twirled and ate spaghetti like she was sanctioned to it. Not to forget that she was my alarm; every morning she knocked loudly like a vexed landlord, shouting my name (one of the very few kids who got my name right) and if I didn’t open the door she would cry; how sweet! I could talk about her till kingdom come, or do you want to know that she ate every meal from two plates; mine and hers? Or that she hummed lyrics to certain rap songs but couldn’t hum ‘Baby Jesus, I love You, You are my Saviour…?’ Or that dancing was the only thing she did in private?

It hurt to think that such a naive soul, happy and innocent would grow up through the ‘know-it-all’ tides of teenage-hood. I wished she didn’t grow up, she should have remained as she was; tender-hearted and obedient. Oh yes obedient; she reciprocated my word with obedience yet I wore no boring saggy glasses and a tired wig. I was in a t-shirt and jeans and twist outs when I gave my orders, requests or explained something to her; like how to hold a spoon and why we should lock the bathroom door. She listened…I imagined her all grown up, probably my age; will she be willing to listen to me? Or will she have learnt to figure things out her own way? Will she sneer at my advice? And when I teach her how to tie a bun will she consider it old-fashioned?

This kid was so obedient and I realized we too were when young. We rushed to bring mama slippers when she came home tired, we wore every dress bought without complaining, without murmuring. Is it that we didn’t have a sense of fashion or is it because we couldn’t afford to buy what we wanted? Or did we have a mind not-so-devolved as to make decisions?

But wait… I believe children have a voice too. They decide whether to swallow food or not. There still are errant kids who refuse to swallow veggies because they are boring…_

It is their meekness that makes them obedient. Their teachable spirit as well._

We grow up so fast and forget that our parents age gracefully. Some of us probably obeyed our parents because we were helpless in all dimensions. Our full dependence on them is what dictated our obedience. Now that we have financial freedom; we can down play their advice, now that our muscle is ripe; we can contend with their discipline, now that we have a deeper voice; we can silence theirs, now that we have Google and self-made chaperones on you-tube; we can mute their wisdom.

Disobedience masquerades as wisdom sometimes, especially when we are exposed to the imperfections of those calling for our obedience. When we realize that indeed daddy isn’t superman, he can’t really stand the stagger of booze, oh and mummy burns food sometimes; then it becomes difficult to look at them with the same eyes of admiration…

Obeying God’s commands is not as easy yet HE is perfect! How then would it be to obey fellow humans?

There is a specialty tagged to honouring our parents; the length of life! Strong/weak, learned/unlearned, perfect/faulty they are our blessings and are tasked by God to play the parenting role. True, God disciplines us for our own good. It may be difficult but it is worth it in the end.

Obedience and humility are two peas in a pod. If we are going to obey our parents, then we will need to be humble; child-like humility. (Matthew 18: 3-4)

Christ perfectly exemplifies humility in obedience that though His soul was sorrowful, HE had to obey the Will of God. (Matthew 26:36-46) And if HE did, yet HE is God, who are we not to incline to God’s will to obey our parents?

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8

Even when mantles pile on our heads, may they not be too heavy for our heads to bow to our elders. We don’t have to wait till we pass on a box of chocolates for pampers or fore-go a road trip to pay school fees to realize just how great a sacrifice parenting is! And how I pray for little Avianna; that she will listen to my frail but wise voice someday… again.