Being Nasty

Have you ever treated your child harshly?

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  - Matthew 7:9-11

Today's Gospel reading really has two messages for us.

The first is that God is much more loving than we are, so we can trust Him to give us good things when we pray to Him.

The second is a reminder that we can be nasty.

We are not always on our best behavior with those we love, and we can be far worse with those we don't.

Where does our nastiness come from if not from the Father?

Having received the gift of choice, we are a dangerous lot.  We can turn from good to evil at any time.  Do you think God trusts us with that capability, or is it something He regrets?

One can argue that we took this gift from Him without His permission, as described in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, but I find it hard to imagine what life would have been like without it.

So the question I have is this.  Do we prefer to have the ability to be nasty?  Would we be unhappy if we had no knowledge of evil?

On this Mother's Day, we remember the woman who brought us into the world and we thank her.  She accepted us as we are without prejudice, without having a clue what we would become.

How trusting is that?

I'm sure there were times when she had doubts that she could control us or set us back on track when we were off discovering our own abilities, good and bad, but that's what being a mother is all about, isn't it?

So, while we remember Mom today, Moms all over creation will be looking at their offspring with love in their hearts and in their eyes, even though, deep down, the memory of all those nasty, evil deeds those little brats did remains a constant reminder that we can be what we choose.

So, Moms, we praise and glorify you before God who holds his head and wonders how you managed to pull it off.

God bless you, and keep you and may we all be a little less nasty today.

For a while anyway.

More to come...