Aesop & Son

“The beginning of men's rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart.” ~ Francis Schaeffer

“do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” ~ Romans 2:4

When I was very young my morning ritual was to wake up early and tromp down to our basement family room and turn on the TV to watch cartoons before everyone else got up. At the risk of giving away my age I will confess that one show I enjoyed were re-runs of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. For the uninitiated; Rocky is a flying squirrel and Bullwinkle is a moose and they were always trying to avoid the evil machinations of Boris Badenov and his cohort Natasha. Some of the episodes of the show live on even now on YouTube and of course on DVD. The appeal of the show is that it also featured short cartoon vignettes that included Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody’s Improbable History, Dudley Do-Right and Aesop & Son.

What children didn’t realize was that they were being taught history or moral values through the medium of humor and celluloid. I enjoyed them all and remember fondly both the fairy tales and the fables. The Aesop & Son short would start with father (Aesop) chiseling his name on a Greek column in a dignified manner, and to his chagrin his son would run in with a jackhammer and add “and Son”. The typical set up was that Aesop would try to teach his son a life lesson but at the end of the story his son would subvert the fable’s moral with a bad pun.

Many of us have heard or read some of Aesop’s Fables or know stories attributed to him like the Ant and the Grasshopper or the Tortoise and the Hare. Most view these tales as stories for children; however, for the early Greeks these fables were aimed at an adult audience. According to Wikipedia the Greek fable "was a technique of criticism and persuasion, which by its indirectness might avoid giving offense, while at the same time making a powerful impression by its artistry. It was especially valuable to the weak as a weapon against the powerful." Aesop was highly regarded by the Greeks and his work was quoted by none other than Socrates. I decided to try my hand at a Aesop-like fable but in the end it may seem more like a Fractured Fairy Tale. As a good friend always says “You can’t make stuff like this up.”

A young man is brought into this world and he is the apple of his father’s eye. His father is a well known philanthropist and is loved and respected by many. Throughout his youth his father makes repeated attempts, both subtle and grand, to demonstrate his love for his son and strengthen his relationship with the boy. At times the father very openly demonstrates his love, care and affection for his son, yet the boy takes these overtures for granted or even ignores them completely. Other times the father quietly orchestrates behind the scenes wonderful and joyous events in this young man’s life.

The father has many servants but his relationship with them is very unique because he treats them more like sons and daughters. Many of these servants attempt to tell this young man about his father, and share with him how they have been personally changed and blessed by his benevolence. The young man thinks they are fools or, worse yet, ignorant and misinformed. The boy is unmoved and unimpressed by their testimonials on behalf of his father and even ignores a biography written about his father that is a world-wide best seller.

The son has no interest in learning about his father’s history, character or benevolence. The boy is unmoved and disinterested and even though the father’s love is constant, the young man refuses to reciprocate. More often than not the boy blames his father for situations and predicaments he has created for himself, and curses his father for not getting him out of his troubles. The son both consciously and unconsciously knows what his father deems appropriate behavior, yet he ignores this and even at times makes it a point to flaunt his behavior as a means to openly scorn his father.

Occasionally the son shows up at his father’s house on special days like his birthday. Typically this is only to sooth his conscience or to keep up appearances. Other times he shows up because his wife has guilt-tripped him into going. More often it is because he wants to manipulate the father to help with his latest scheme or to help him out of a jam. Eventually the day comes when the boy completely puts the father out of his mind and refuses to darken the door of his house, even on holidays. Through it all the father continues to love his son and wait patiently for him.

One day many years later tragedy strikes the boy and he needs emergency surgery he cannot afford. He calls on his father to pay for the procedure and miraculously the father provides and the boy makes a full recovery. The father hopes this life experience may be an opening for reconciliation and a chance for a deeper and more meaningful relationship. Yet the young man does not offer any thanks, refuses to speak to his father and still will not visit him at his house.

The son often hears stories of how his father has provided for his staff of servants or has done a wonderful philanthropic work somewhere in the world. The father uses all his resources to rescue the poor, outcast and undeserving. But the son rails against his father whenever he reads a story in the paper or hears in the news about sickness, war and natural disaster. He uses this as a justification for ignoring his father and remaining estranged from him. He rationalizes that if his father is as wonderful as everyone says he is, then of course he should have used his vast resources to solve this problem, all the while writing off that all of these instances were the result of bad choices by others and not his father’s doing.

Years pass and the father still longs for a relationship with his son and subtly and quietly provides and protects his son behind the scenes. The son again experiences a tragedy but this time when he calls, the father does not answer and the son suffers a devastating loss. The father knows that his son simply wants his resources but not a relationship, so he hopes going it alone will wake up his son. The son is irate and he is filled with anger and malice toward his father. How dare his father not answer! He blames his father for his troubles and at that point vows to never have anything more to do with him.

This fable sounds implausible and a little extreme yet this is how each and every of us view or treat our Heavenly Father. He seeks to be known and have a personal relationship with us, yet we ignore Him and take Him for granted. He showers us with blessing; both overtly and subtly, yet we fail to acknowledge the Giver of all good things. This phenomenon is evident in all men, no matter their “spiritual” condition. In his Trilogy of books, author and philosopher Francis Schaeffer points to that fact that we all want to rummage through God’s pockets and pull out the gems of His character we like and ignore the rest. We fail to see Him or acknowledge Him in both the amazing and mundane but His love remains constant and never changing. We blame Him for our troubles or use any excuse we can find to question His love and affection for us and the world. We want the benefits of a relationship without the commitment or responsibility that may come with it. He is the genie in the lamp who needs to be at our beck and call in the hour of our need, then forgotten again when the trial passes.

We rarely, if ever talk to Him in prayer, and even when we do it is a laundry list of wants and not a meaningful, loving or heartfelt discussion. We cannot be bothered to visit his house, yet when the chips are down and we face possible tragedy and despair we think that God should pull out all the stops and give it to us NOW! After all God is love and we deserve His favor no matter what. If we are callously ignored and repeatedly taken advantage of in our human relationships we typically jettison that "user". Yet we irrationally and illogically think God should cater to our every whim no matter how we treat Him.

Ask yourself this question; would you give everything to someone who has treated you in the same manner? God gave His only begotten Son, what have you given Him in return? God desired a relationship with you and I so much that He paid dearly for it. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” ~ I John 3:1

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ~ Romans 5:8

“If God exists and we are made in his image we can have real meaning, and we can have real knowledge through what he has communicated to us.” ~ Francis Schaeffer