Sunday, May 31, 2020

Analogies, Parables, and Teaching Stories- Part 9

I know, it's been a while. Lots of life happening. But I still want to keep this place alive.. even if it's only barely.

Anyway.....

I've always had a thing for analogies, parables, and the like. As teaching tools, they use every-day situations and ideas to explain complex principles, making those complex ideas a whole lot easier to understand. Often, they can explain ideas that would otherwise be nigh impossible to explain accurately.

Jesus Himself used parables all the time in His teaching. Sometimes this was to make the teaching of a certain principle easier. But often He didn't give an explanation. He simply allowed people to take from the "nice story" what they would- an act of mercy, given that we are each held accountable for following the doctrines we understand.

The first in this series was about ducks. The second one was about medicine.. and salvation. The third was about math class. The fourth was about engines and society. The fifth was about dirt. Number six was about my grandma's puzzles. My seventh was about light- lightning vs. a flashlight. The last one (yes, it was forever ago) was about butterflies and their life cycle. Today I'm going to talk about pie.

Pie is amazing stuff. Crispy, flakey, buttery pastry surrounding fruit or meat and vegetables, or even in the case of quiche, egg and vegetables. Gotta love pie!


But if the pie has to be shared among too many people, there may not be enough, or maybe everyone gets a piece, but it's just a too-small piece.

When we're kids, we often think that the human heart's capacity for love is a pie. There's only so much to go around, and if there are more people to share with, that means there's less for me, right?


Then we grow up and marry or become parents (or both)... and we realize that the human heart isn't a pie. It's a kitchen. We realize that often, when we have more people to love, our heart just makes another pie. And everyone gets their own wholeness of love. Sure, some may get peach or apple pie. Others may get a chicken pot pie or other savory meat pie. But it's all good- because everyone gets a whole pie.


And our Father has the biggest kitchen of all!.. PIE FOR EVERYONE!