Return to Elliotland

"Dad," Elliot told me the other evening.  "When I'm a little older I want to write a story that's a little like the Lord of the Rings."

I suppose that's not surprising since I've been reading that lengthy story for some time to my children.  "What will it be about?"  I asked.

"Well, it will take place in a magical place called 'Elliotland' and it will have a Dark Lord called Ara-corn and his father's name will be Ara-lorn and there will be a wizard named Ara-zorn."

"All their names rhyme?"  I asked curiously.  It could get to be a difficult to follow the characters if all their names were like this.

"Of course,"  Elliot said.  "In stories like this, all of the people who are related to each other have names that rhyme.  And the road to the Dark Lord's Tower will be guarded by an octopus with a thousand arms called Kay-lob."

"That sounds dangerous," I said.  "But I don't think an octopus can have a thousand arms.  Octo means eight.  What you're talking about would be a mili-pus."

"Yes, and there will be a Jabberwocky there as well and probably slithy toves -- but they aren't important."

"Sounds like you have it all figured out," I told my son.

"I forgot to tell you that there will be ring wraiths.  Only there will be ten of them in my story, not just nine like in the Lord of the Rings!"

"Wow," I said.  "That'll be a big seller. 'Ten percent more ring wraiths.'  Who could resist such an offer?"

Elliot is only seven, but he has figured out that it is a lot easier to borrow from stories that you like than to generate new ideas.  I suppose it isn't too hard to take an existing plot and pump up the volume on it a bit and change a few names and have an exciting story.

If you liked Lord of the Rings, you'll love Return to Elliotland!

Most books have flaws, which I suppose means that they can be improved on.  I happen to like the Lord of the Rings, but I'm sure there are plenty of things that Tolkien could have written differently and perhaps the book would have been better.

The one book that doesn't have this issue is the Bible.  As I read it and apply it to my life, there are blessings that I experience that I couldn't in any other way.  I hear my heavenly Father speaking to me and it encourages me and lifts me and drives me to be more like Him.

It doesn't need ten percent more of anything.  If we can only listen to its words and live them, we too can have life.

The Other Golden Rule

Elliot and Vince were playing chess.  Or rather, they had been playing chess.  Neither one will ever be confused with Bobby Fischer and Vince was getting tired of it, although Elliot still wanted to go another round.

"Vince won't play with me,"  Elliot said accusingly.

"But I did play with you," Vince said.  "I played two games, but I don't want to play chess any more right now."

"Maybe Elliot, it's time to play something else," I suggested.

"But Vince needs to play with me!"  Elliot said emphatically.  "That's what I want him to do."

"Elliot," I asked."  Do you know what the Golden Rule says?"

"Of course," he answered promptly.  "It says others should do to you what they would want you to do to them."

"Sort of,"  I said.  "It says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

"That's what I said," Elliot replied.

"Well, you seemed to be applying it to Vince and not to yourself.  Maybe you could play something with Vince now that he wants to do."

My children have a tough time putting the Golden Rule into practice, but truth to tell, I'm not always so good at it myself.  It is just not always easy to think of what will make other people happy and much easier to focus on what I know will please me.

Humans are inherently selfish.  We think about what we want and what we need before the thought even crosses our minds that there others out there who have needs too.

This is a change that Jesus works in our hearts when we become His child.  To see the needs of others and to truly try to meet them is our goal.

To do unto others as we would have them do to us.

Food or Snacks?

"Come on, Victoria," I said encouragingly.  "It's time to eat supper."

I looked over at the table where I could see sweet corn and spaghetti resting in bowls.  Nearby, in its own separate bowl were some green beans.

(I think 50 percent of our garden's output this year was green beans and okra, but I digress)...

"Don't you want to eat some tasty food?"  I asked coaxingly.

"No!"  One thing about three year old children is that they are very black and white.  Victoria's statements are always very definitive and often punctuated by ear rending shrieks.  One appeared at this exact moment.  "I don't like food!  I like snacks!"

Eventually, after some encouragement, Victoria joined the rest of the Waldron clan at the table.  After prayer, we began to eat -- real food.

Victoria is quite honest.  While I suppose there is some argument about whether snacks are really food, there is no doubt that Victoria likes things in the snack category very well.  Unfortunately, when you research the "Healthy Plate" (which has apparently taken the place of the food pyramid) you don't find snacks mentioned.  There are Vegetables, Fruits, Healthy Protein and Whole Grains.  To the side sits a cup of water, but no snacks are to be found anywhere.

Three year olds everywhere are shocked.

The thing about snacks is that they aren't really intended to be main courses of meals.  Even if you bite the edges off of an oatmeal cream pie, it still isn't a square meal, not by any stretch of the imagination.

It feels to me as though many people want to experience spiritual things in terms of snacks.  Reading the Bible is too hard and so people get some books by Christian authors or just books about "spirituality" and read those instead.  They find going to church is too difficult and so they try to meditate a bit and pray for a couple of minutes on their way to work.

Any relationship takes effort and having one with God the Father is no different.  We need to speak with Him frequently and not just when Florence is coming to visit.

When the storm comes we find that we are weak and unable to stand in the hurricane.  This is simply because a life lived based on snacks is a life bound for weakness and vitamin deficiency.

It is only through a real connection with God that we can survive the hard things that await us in the future.

Let us eat real meals, not just snacks.

Called to Serve

"Do you want to be a wedding photographer when you grow up?"  Elliot asked Anna.

Anna has started helping my wife take photos at weddings and seems to enjoy it greatly.  That said, she is only eleven and Elliot is seven, so their view of future endeavors could be a bit hazy.

Anna paused, considering her future.  "No," she said.  "I don't think I want to be a wedding photographer when I grow up."

"What do you want to do when you grow up?"  Vince asked, with his mouthful of tater tot casserole.

"Vince, it is hard for me to understand you when you talk with your mouth full of food,"  Anna said, then answered the question.  "I think that when I grow up I would like to work helping homeless people in Mexico."

The children were all silent at this bit of news.  "Don't you like taking pictures at weddings?"  Elliot asked.

"I do like taking pictures at weddings,"  Anna said.  "But there are lots of people who take pictures at weddings.  There aren't a lot of people who want to help homeless people, who have no money and aren't very clean, in Mexico.  And I'm good at cleaning things up and working hard.  I think I could help more people that way."

I don't know what Anna's future holds.  She has a lot of time to change her mind, but I was blessed by the simple wisdom in the reasons she gave her brothers for wanting to serve.

Most of us want to do something glamorous and work with interesting people.  Unfortunately, there aren't quite enough of those jobs to go around.

I think of the passage in the Bible where Jesus told a story about judgment.  At the end of it, the king says "Truly, I tell you, as you have done it unto the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

We are called to serve -- not the high and the wealthy, but the poor, the people without.  As we look for the needs around us and attempt to meet them, we are doing something more, we are serving our Master.

The world has a lot of glamorous people doing interesting things, it probably doesn't need more of them.  What it really needs is Christians who are willing to serve people in need.