Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Egg Toss    

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.  C.S. Lewis

I have told many stories of my childhood and I thought today would be a good day to share another of those stories.  I love this saying by C.S. Lewis.  We can either be a decent ordinary egg our entire lives, or as I say we can be an extraordinary egg.

My brother and I were out in the woods behind our house with my Dad.  I am sure Dad was working or cutting wood or something productive but my brother and I were mostly goofing off.  We had gone to the barn earlier that morning and gathered eggs.  Unbeknownst to me, my brother had held onto one of the eggs. 

So I am walking through the woods, minding my own business, when something comes sailing through the trees.  The problem with this was my brother knew it was headed for me but I didn’t and he really didn’t give me a heads up or in this case head duck.  The reason he knew it was because he is the one who threw the egg.  So I am walking along and all of a sudden I get smacked upside, (I don’t think that is a word but it sounds right for this story), the head with a raw egg. 

Since my brother played baseball when he was younger, I guess he was a better pitcher than he thought because his aim was good that day.  He missed every tree branch so the egg had nothing to stop its momentum except me.  So here I am standing in the woods with egg running down the side of my head.  I think it surprised me more than anything but I am sure I cried because it shocked me.  It wasn’t like I got a goose egg from it or in this case a chicken egg.  He got in trouble of course, but I don’t quite remember the punishment since there is not anything in the Kid Manual about what punishment is required for hitting your sister upside the head with a raw egg. That was a new one for my Dad and he had lots of practice with four kids. 
      
I love the analogy of being hatched or going bad.  That is so true.  Our lives are like a long incubation period.  This is when we are learning and growing in our spiritual life. 

We had an incubator when I was young and it always fascinated me that you could place eggs in this thing and later the chicks would hatch.  The thing is you had to make sure the light source stayed on continuously and you had to go out every day and turn the eggs.  That is what God is to us.  He is our light source and he turns us every day.  In the turning process he may give us challenges or trials that help us mature so that one day we too will hatch.  It is up to us whether we will be a decent egg, an extraordinary egg or a rotten egg.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I sometimes allow worldly things to distract me and it is like my brain has a short circuit or sometimes an entire power outage.  Those are the times that I need to cling to you with everything in me. I praise You for loving me enough to wait until the lights come back on.   
    

Scripture:   Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:7-9

No comments:

Post a Comment