The Tales of Fred and George: Chapter 1

 Based on stories that I told my kids

Chapter 1

In the forest lived two of the strangest friends you ever would meet. Fred was a snake, long and green and shaped like the letter ‘S’ with two dark eyes and a tongue that flickered out of his mouth. George was a turtle with a rough shell and a slow, careful walk. On some days, you would have a good reason to doubt that this snake and this turtle were friends, and you would be right.

One day, on the path that went through the trees of their forest, Fred heard people say that you could sell a turtle shell for money. He didn’t know about money, and he wasn’t sure what he needed it for, but these people seemed very impressed by it. 

“George doesn’t really need that shell.” he told himself. “He lives a very safe life. Everyone is his friend and he doesn’t walk fast enough to hurt himself, even if he trips and falls! Much better to let me have it. I think he will grow another. And I...I will give him some of this money they talk about it. A win-win situation.” So Fred created a plan.

George was munching his food near the base of a low oak tree when Fred found him.

“George.” Fred announced.

“Yes….Fred.” George answered deliberately, one syllable per chew.

“Today, you should climb this oak tree with me.” Fred spoke quickly, words tumbling out. “The view is better up there, and you can see all of the other trees and the pond and the stream. It is so beautiful.”

George considered that for several moments. “I don’t know….I’m not a climber.”

“You are a champion climber. This oak has low spreading branches. See how the trunk has fallen over, almost like a tree highway. Just right for a turtle like you. See?” Fred slithered up and down the branches to demonstrate how easy it was. “Just follow me. We will go slowly. And it is so beautiful at the top. And, oh, there are some special plants I just know that you will enjoy up there, on one of the branches. I saw them there myself just a while ago.”

George looked up skeptically, but he did want to see the pond and eat the special plants, so he cautiously put up one leg on the base of the tree and then another. Fred became excited and raced up the trunk, taking branch after branch until he rested on mere twigs. On those twigs he had placed luscious grasses and George’s favorite delicacies. When George got out that far, his weight would cause the twigs to break, he would fall to the ground and pop! His shell would come off. “No, he won’t really be hurt. That’s what the shells are for, right? To protect him from falls like that.”

So George followed Fred, turn after turn, fork after fork. “There it is!” Fred shouted excitedly, his tongue aiming at the pile of grasses. And truly, George could see it, and he could smell it, and he was growing tired with all of the exercise. His legs required careful placement to maintain his footing. Now he was as excited as a turtle could be. “Yum!” But just as he got near to the grasses, on the last twig, suddenly he lost his grip and his footing gave away, two legs on each side. Scarily, he was balanced on a branch, barely able to move for fear of falling to the ground. But that branch was sturdy, so George was stuck, but stable on that branch. “He needs to move just a few more inches, on to that twig and then it will surely break.” Fred thought to himself.

Then he tried to push, but all he did was scrape his scaly body on the rough bark of the oak tree. Then he crawled onto George’s back, and tried jumping up and down, trying to dislodge him or cause him to lose his balance. Oh, how George wobbled, and rocked until his stomach felt funny. Finally Fred crawled over George, on to the twig where the grasses rested and gripped George’s head with his tale. Then he pulled and pulled until CRACK, the twig cracked and Fred wailed “Help!” as he fell down, down down to the ground. The grasses floated down and landed on his head.

The second CRACK caused Fred to look up, only in time to see George waving his legs wildly as he too fell, but it wasn’t too bad because he landed on all that grass and on Fred. Fred had a headache, but George munched happily. “Thank you for the grass. It’s yummy!”

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12: Why Family?

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. - Hebrews 1:1-4

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.”

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” - Hebrews 2:5-12

 "So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters." It seems like an extraordinary statement. Jesus, who is "crowned with glory and honor" is "of the same family" as we are. Seems like a bit of a come down. He is God. He has done all this marvelous stuff like miracles and coming back from the dead. Then there is us. As much as I like a number of the humans around me and love some of them, I don't normally think of Jesus with the term 'family'. I certainly don't perceive him with the emotional warmth that comes with this term, partly because of the perceived distance in our relations but also because I have a sense that says, 'I'm not at the same level as him.' I am me. Just Tim. With limitations and sins. Why would Jesus decide that I am a good fit to call me 'brother'?

It reminds me a bit of Pride and Prejudice, when Mr Darcy must wrestle with the fact that he would be associated with a family such as the Bennetts. Their very name would bring questions about whether Mr. Darcy was the class of person he claimed to be. Likewise, by being associated with me, Jesus puts his name at risk. My background would bring questions about whether Jesus was the class of savior that he claimed to be. Why would he do that? Probably for the same reason that Mr. Darcy cast his doubts aside and assumed the task of helping Wickham and Liza Bennet and being around the utterly foolish Mrs. Bennett. Love--a sort of love that gives even at the sacrifice of reputation. Jesus has done some much for me, not just so he could tolerate my presence, but somehow so he could call me 'brother'. 

It is an extension of what he always did . As it says, 'For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.' (Hebrews 12:2) He didn't just love us. For him it was a joy. Whatever the shame, it is nothing compared to his love for me. I'll take it.

Psalm 26: Courage To Do The Loving Thing, Integrity To Do the Right Thing

Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered. Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites. I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, Lord, proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells. Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with those who are bloodthirsty, in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes. I lead a blameless life; deliver me and be merciful to me.

My feet stand on level ground;  in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

Sometimes you find yourself in an environment which makes you feel uncomfortable or around people who make you feel uncomfortable just by being around them. We can't always control those things because of our obligations. The psalmist asks God here, in these verses, for him not to lump him together with the people around him. He says: "Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness." He is living the faithful life, always mindful of God's presence and his love. I'm actually envious because it is a goal that I would like to achieve.

When he looks around though, he can see that not everyone is living that way. He sees the destructive lifestyles and the dishonest choices. He knows where these lead and he is afraid that he will be swept up in the consequences. I can understand this. Bystanders get shot, noncombatants get hurt, collateral damage happens. We stay close because we care, but we also get hurt because we care. So I hope to maintain my courage and my integrity when I see these things happen--courage to do the loving thing and not the easy thing and integrity to do the right thing.  

Job 1:1, 2:1-10: If We Want Understanding, We Must Live It

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. - Job 1:1, 2:1-10

 There are a few places in the Bible where God makes a choice and that choice causes pain for his children. In this case, he authorizes Satan to go and inflict sores on Job's body, contending that Job only liked God because God always gave him the good stuff in life. In the back of my mind, I am asking: what gives God the right to make that decision?

Well, for one, we do. When we decide to follow Jesus--to become his disciples--we give God the right to do whatever he deems best to achieve his--and our--ultimate goal--to become like Jesus. We would like it to be hand-holding and comforting, but God asks us to go through the same refining process that he asked his son to go through.

And part of this is that God will use how we respond to teach those that are watching. In these verses, in addition to Satan, it says that the angels were there in the throne room of God. God wanted to use how Job responded to teach the unfallen angels the truth about his humans. Were they really hopeless after they had sinned, or was their a path of redemption where, under pressure they would do the right thing. 

This wasn't just for the angels, though. We see Job's three friends and Job's wife around him while he is suffering. His experiences and the way he responded served to teach those around him about what was real and the way the world really worked. It was a painful lesson in life's classroom for Job, and his children.

It also means that justice--people getting what they deserve--is not what we think it is. Did Job get what he deserved? He certainly got what he needed--a glimpse of who God really is and what God is really doing. And that was a hard-won revelation--the kind of knowledge that can only come through experience. 

I think this is why looking back is the best way to judge our own lives. We want to know how the world works but fundamentally there is no way to know that unless we go through it--unless we live past it. We want the reward from God, but if the reward we want is understanding, then must live it first, just as Jesus did.

Psalm 19:7-14: Betting Against The Self-Serving Answer

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm,  and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. - Psalm 19:7-14

"But who can discern their own errors?" The ability to lie to myself and tell myself that what I did was for good and right reasons continues to trouble me even as it did in my elementary school days. To think that what I did was right and then to spend hours agonizing and then to spend days in remorse and then weeks in trying to figure out how to make up for what I did is a pattern that has been repeated many times in my life.

I have only found two ways to fight against this trend in my life. First, listen to trusted voices who question my decisions. Sometimes they are wrong, but they are right often enough that I am willing to take a second look. Second, try to proactively do the right thing the first time. Usually when I am lying to myself, there is an element of self-serving in my decision. So every decision that has a benefit to me deserves a second look to see whether I did it because it was right or because it benefited me. If there is a doubt, bet against the self-serving answer even if it costs me.

Numbers 11:4-29: God Lets Me Join In The Doing

 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.

“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”

The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” - Numbers 11:4-29

 Discontent is a root of evil because it turns blessings into curses--and discontent has its roots in the pride that resides in our hearts. God blessed the people of Israel at least 4 times: taking them out of Egypt, feeding them with manna, feeding them with meat, and blessing them with Spirit-led leaders. They complained when they were in the desert, they complained about the manna, Moses complained about the people, Joshua complained about the elders of Israel. In each case, they looked at where God had brought them and assumed that there must be some mistake.

They weren't who they thought they were in God's sight because if they were, God wouldn't let the things happen to them that were happening. They became blessing addicts, when the effect of the last miracle had worn off, they had miracle-withdrawals and they complained that it was God who had made them addicts and that they expected better from him.

I think that I am also a complainer some times. I become so used to the comfort in which God has allowed me to live in seasons of my life that when it goes away, assume that the situation should be better or God should be better. Why should he do this to me? Why is this happening to us? This presumes that my or our comfort should be at the center of God's agenda and that he should be fixing the world so that our comfort happens. A while back I realized that soldier is not surprised when his commander asks him to do a difficult task which relieves his comrades or protects the people back home, even if he doesn't know how that will occur. If he trusts the commander, he does it. He doesn't look around at the other members of his military division and ask, "Why didn't God ask him?" or "Why did he choose me for this task?" God picked me at this time because he had a job to do and he lets me join in the doing.  

Esther 7:1-10, 9:20-22: Changing Mindsets By Relationships

So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Impale him on it!” So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided. - Esther 7:1-10

Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. - Esther 9:20-22

 When you show that the relationship with the one can be extended to the many. There are many recorded instances in the Bible when the people of God are under the authority of the ungodly and the unrighteous, who really don't care about them or definitely put them in a significantly lower category where they can disposed of at a whim. But we also see that God sometimes places a person or two in the group near the authority to develop a different type of relationship--not as a member of "that" group but as someone whose hard work and dedication allows them to be trusted.  God can use this status as a "someone" rather than the status as a "one of them" to effect his rescue and accomplish his purposes. He did that here, where the King saw "Esther" as his wife and "Mordecai" as his advisor and servant rather than as a "foreigner" or "Jew".  When Esther revealed to him that Haman's plan to kill the Jews recast Haman's plan into something which threatened his wife and advisor, he was angry and it transformed his whole attitude towards God's people.

I think that we sometimes avoid contact with the "enemy" because we fear it will compromise us and our values and beliefs, or make us give away our strength uselessly, or enable them in their wicked ways. But the people in the Bible, from Joseph to Daniel and Mordecai chose to their best for people, even the people who qualify as "enemies" and by changing their thinking on a personal level they also changed their thinking about bigger issues.  I'm glad God didn't do that with me: "For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (Romans 5:10)