I like animated movies. I think I’ve seen most of them out
there and as soon as one comes out I am there to see it. Some think that’s
rather unbecoming for a woman of 35 years of age, but if I haven’t stressed it
enough in my articles, I’ll say it again, I have no excuse, I am just weird.
Anyway, like I said I like animated movies and my favorite
one, because of course I have a favorite, is Kung Fu Panda. For some reason I
see myself in that fat panda more than I can say. I can quote it better than
The Bible which is nothing to brag about, but there you have it.
I was watching the 3rd one for maybe the 5th
time a few days ago and there is a quote in there that I really love. To get
the whole idea, the master decided to let the panda teach kung fu, but the
panda is really bad at it and does a lousy job. The master comes to ask him how
it went and the panda says “I don’t know why you ever thought I could teach
that class!” The master replies “Oh, I knew you couldn’t.” The panda is shocked
and says “What?! You set me up to fail? Why?” and the master replies: “If you only do what you can, you will
never be more than you are now.”
For some reason it made me think of the widow’s offering in
Mark 12. Do not ask me why I connected the two because I have no explanation
for the way my twisted mind works.
“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the
people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.
And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.
And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those
who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their
abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had
to live on.” – Mark 12:41-44
I know people like to use this passage especially before
offerings in Church, but I don’t think it’s about the money, I think it’s the
principle of giving. Whether that is money, or patience, or grace, or empathy,
or help, etc. It’s about the giving. Giving from something you can’t afford
because you don’t have much of it for yourself.
I am not a patient person, nor extremely kind. I am poor in
those areas. I have barely enough to live on. On the other hand I know people
that have such a generous nature that to me they’re up there with Mother
Theresa . I know people that have the most patient nature and when
I am next to them I seem like the Tasmanian devil (the cartoon). They have been
blessed with a lot. I have barely enough to survive and in order to have those attributes
I have to work really hard on my character. If I exhibit patience in a
situation it’s because I am choosing to give my last two coins. If I speak
without using sarcasm even though I am faced with ridiculous arguments, that’s
me giving my last 2 coins. For some people it could be peacefulness, humility,
love, selflessness, etc. We all have areas where we are poor, but that’s
alright. Because if you chose to give what you yourself need to survive on, in
Adonai’s world you gave more than those who have it in abundance. What
matters is to give. To go beyond what you can do, because like the quote I used
said: “If you only do what you can, you
will never be more than you are now.”
Just a thought…
Bat Melech בת מלך
Cristina כריסטינה
No comments:
Post a Comment