Humble...

So when I was little my grandmother used to tell us the parables as stories. She used the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector a lot. Her version of Luke 8:9-14 was not historical people though. Her version went something like this...

"One night before bed when I was little I got down on the wooden floors to say my bedtime prayers and I thanked the Lord for all the things that I wasn't. I thanked him that I wasn't mean like my brother. I thanked him that I wasn't vain like my sister. I thanked him that I wasn't judgmental like my father. I thanked him that I wasn't forgetful about thanking him like my mother and then right in front of my Nana (my grandmother's grandmother) I thanked him that I wasn't old like my Nana. Then Nana got down on her knees and prayed. She prayed to the Lord and told him that she was old, tired, and undeserving of his love and she thanked him for his grace in patience in being a better person. Then she listed off the people she loved one by one and asked the Lord to protect over them because they were trying. That night in bed I had a horrible dream. I dreamt that my Nana and I stood at the pearly gates and Peter wouldn't let me in. Peter told me that I was more mean than my brother because I didn't pray for his salvation. I was more vain than my sister because I thought I was too good for her love. I was more judgmental than my father because I thought God didn't love him the way he was. I was more forgetful than my mother because I had forgotten what to pray for. Then Peter looked at my Nana and said you... you are old and tired and the Lord has granted you peace, love and rest. Enter this gate. My grandmother then said in her dream she stood on the side of the river in Tahlequah and watched her Grandmother sink into the water. When she awoke everyone was in the room she shared with Nana. Nana had died in her sleep. My grandmother said Nana had a big smile on her face and she could tell she was SOOOO happy. The next night she knew what she had to do to get to see Nana again in heaven. She got down on her knees and she prayed for everyone else. Because that's the only way that God really hears our prayers...when we do them with the best of intentions."

My grandmother prayed every night that way till she died peacefully in her sleep in her mid 60's with a big smile on her face. When someone talked with her about dying she would tell them that fearing dying is like fearing breathing...if you're thinking about it you're doing it wrong and it will always catch up with you in one way or another. She taught us to pray that way.

Tonight is the eve of December. It's the first night for most people who believe in a "holiday season". Tonight is the night before the lights come on in Christmas tree lane, the carols start in the church services and the nativity scenes start to tell their stories.

Tonight is a good night to remember that the Lord wants us to humble before him and love one another. So tonight when you say your prayers and before that when you talk at the dinner table, tonight I want you to take the time to acknowledge what good is found in others, what humbling you need to find in yourself and to pray for grace not because you think you deserve it (because we all know you don't...and neither do I) but because it's time...