Absalom Oh Absalom, Perspective

The past month has not been the best for daily scripture, but some progress has been made. This AM this is where I was at:

2 Samuel 18:33 (NIV) The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”

I can  remember thinking as a young man that King David must have been INSANE to still care about a son that had taken his kingdom and was doing his very best to kill him!

I've only begun to understood Psalm 128:6 "May you live to see your children's children" for the past 14 months, but I'm sure I'll understand it much deeper as time unravels.

"Honor your father and your mother" is the 4th commandment, after "no other Gods", "Don't take the Lord's name in vain" and "honor the sabbath". First you honor God in heaven alone (the BEGINNING of wiadom), then you honor him with your "word", then you honor his Church, and then you honor the humans that were his chosen means to give you life.

The only way a young man can understand the reaction of King David is by FAITH, and I clearly was not that young man.  I could also not understand the reality of Psalm 128:6 without experience -- my faith hasn't grown with age as much as I would like. Every parent of a grown child understands King David -- no doubt Kind David bounced Absalom on his knee and expected him to be a God loving righteous man. But he loved him still even when he wanted to kill him.

So maybe an earthly parent can BEGIN to understand the love of God for humans that hate him with all their hearts and all their souls. Atheism is a strange faith -- you hate that which you claim does not exist. Perhaps Muslims killing Christians to gain their spot in paradise approach the hatred that seethes from the atheist -- but I'm not so certain. I've read both "God Delusion" and "Letter To A Christian Nation", and while the ability of man to love without God may still be in question, it is very clear that godlessness helps mightily with hatred! The atheist credo is a barely concealed "give hate a chance".

So what is an earthly or heavenly father to do? Science certainly can't help you -- it's claim to fame is that it's truths are still true without humans existing at all. God's truths are always true as well -- even if he decides that science doesn't exist. He defines existence. He has however created us and made us eternal -- so we will go on existing, and for that same eternity (this one), science will have nothing to say about "the good", love, truth (other than mechanical truth) or beauty.

What I now have relative to Absalom and my children's children is the BEGINNING of wisdom. But someday I shall know.

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

We stole the chance to decide our fate when we stole a bite from the tree ... we can know pure love, or we can know pure malevolence and hatred -- we have to work to get the malevolence and hatred with a lifetime of rejection like Absolom. If we are willing to experience love, we can let Grace take us home.