Just A Kid
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Just a Kid" by C. David McKirachan
"A Whale of a Storm" by Frank Ramirez
* * * * * * * *
Just a Kid
by C. David McKirachan
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49
I went to Rome recently. We went to the Borghese Museum, a jewel in the crown of the ancient city. Caravaggio's paintings stood out for me, even among all the others. He has managed to capture moments of deep significance and ground them in the human experience in such a way that it offers new insights into the spiritual depth of the characters depicted. He raised hackles and caused scandals, as any good artist should do.
One of my favorites was a painting of David, after he had cut Goliath's head from his body. David has been a favorite for many of the greats. Michelangelo's defines a moment, frozen, as the young man looks through that decision into all that could be. In the Borghese there is another marble portrait, I think it is by Bellini, that shows the shepherd wound in upon himself, every muscle in his body torqued as he is about to sling the stone toward the monster. Caravaggio chooses another moment. The decision has been made, the fear faced, the rock slung, the giant decapitated, now David stands there, a boy, wondering what the heck he should do with this gory trophy. You can see a bit of disgust and a bit of question on the victor's face, and he's holding the head out away from his body. If there were a caption it would be "Eywwh!"
The artist reminds us that the great worrier of Israel was a kid who couldn't move in a man's armor. He had no idea about strategies. All he knew was what he'd seen and all he wore was the invincible idealism of an adolescent. And now he'd killed a man and shamed the enemies of Israel. Now there was nothing but a mess to clean up. How many of our heroes have been those willing to ignore adult wisdom and strength and leap into the possible armored in faith? And after displaying the power and potential of letting God use our frail human frames as an instrument of grace, need our help to clean up the mess and put the whole thing in perspective? David and Mary were not only relatives by blood, but they were heroes of faith. And they both made messes.
I guess one of our callings is to stop trying to be so wise and well equipped and start wearing and using our faith. It will get us into ridiculous situations, no doubt, and it will make messes that we need help cleaning up. But my friends, aren't we called to be children of God, heroes of faith, worriers of the light?
Anybody want a head?
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. McKirachan is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
A Whale of a Storm
by Frank Ramirez
Mark 4:35-41
A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
-- Mark 4:37
Today's Bible story involves a storm on an inland sea in an era before the Coast Guard, GPS tracking, and the possibility of rescue. Although accidents and disasters still happen in bodies of water of all sizes, it's hard for many of us to imagine how desperate we would feel cut off from all possibility of help or to understand how hopeless the situation was for the apostles without the presence of Jesus. If they could wake him up.
Natural disasters, especially on the sea, happen all sorts of ways. Wouldn't you consider a whale ramming a boat in the middle of the trackless ocean a natural disaster? Though it was a rare event, one wonders why it didn't happen more often.
The story of the whaling ship Essex in 1820 illustrates the desperation of being cast adrift at sea, far from any help. Although it was an older ship it was highly thought of when it sailed out of Nantucket on August 12, 1819. Captain George Pollard Jr., was one of the youngest captains in what was a thriving industry.
On November 16 of the following year, in the south Pacific Ocean, in what perhaps should have been taken as a warning, one of the Essex's four whale boats was smashed to pieces by a whale surfacing beneath it. Four days later the three remaining small craft set out after a whale. Turning back Pollard and First Officer Owen Chase were shocked to see that the whale they had been chasing had turned back and was ramming the Essex, battering it until it was a doomed ship, causing it to slowly sink, 2,000 miles west of South America, with no hope of rescue or aid.
The three boats turned back, and before the Essex sank, they outfitted themselves with makeshift masts and sails and loaded what supplies they could. Though they lived on strict rations, their food and water were almost gone and the crews were near death a few weeks later when they spotted and landed on Henderson Island. For a time they ate well and drank deep of the freshwater springs, but they soon decimated the habitat of its animal and bird population and faced starvation once more. They set out again. Even so, three of their number remained behind rather than face the open ocean, hoping they had a better chance of survival.
What followed is a story of desperation. One of the boats disappeared altogether. The others struggled with the choice of whether or not to resort to cannibalism when fellow crew-members died. In one instance the process was hastened through the drawing of straws and a murder.
After 95 days at sea a few reached the vicinity of land and were rescued. Ships were sent out to Henderson Island to find the three there barely alive. In the end there were only eight survivors, and the story of desperation and hopelessness on the open seas caused many to wonder what they themselves might have done in similar seemingly hopeless circumstances. The story, published in books with titles like Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, excited a great deal of wonder and attracted the attention of one writer, Herman Melville, who decades later would eventually incorporate the tale of a monster whale destroying a ship into his 1851 novel Moby Dick.
Does anyone really know how they will respond to desperate situations until they experience them? I wonder if the apostles could have predicted that they would speak harshly, even angrily, to Jesus in their distress. Would we have done any better?
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, and three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 24, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Just a Kid" by C. David McKirachan
"A Whale of a Storm" by Frank Ramirez
* * * * * * * *
Just a Kid
by C. David McKirachan
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49
I went to Rome recently. We went to the Borghese Museum, a jewel in the crown of the ancient city. Caravaggio's paintings stood out for me, even among all the others. He has managed to capture moments of deep significance and ground them in the human experience in such a way that it offers new insights into the spiritual depth of the characters depicted. He raised hackles and caused scandals, as any good artist should do.
One of my favorites was a painting of David, after he had cut Goliath's head from his body. David has been a favorite for many of the greats. Michelangelo's defines a moment, frozen, as the young man looks through that decision into all that could be. In the Borghese there is another marble portrait, I think it is by Bellini, that shows the shepherd wound in upon himself, every muscle in his body torqued as he is about to sling the stone toward the monster. Caravaggio chooses another moment. The decision has been made, the fear faced, the rock slung, the giant decapitated, now David stands there, a boy, wondering what the heck he should do with this gory trophy. You can see a bit of disgust and a bit of question on the victor's face, and he's holding the head out away from his body. If there were a caption it would be "Eywwh!"
The artist reminds us that the great worrier of Israel was a kid who couldn't move in a man's armor. He had no idea about strategies. All he knew was what he'd seen and all he wore was the invincible idealism of an adolescent. And now he'd killed a man and shamed the enemies of Israel. Now there was nothing but a mess to clean up. How many of our heroes have been those willing to ignore adult wisdom and strength and leap into the possible armored in faith? And after displaying the power and potential of letting God use our frail human frames as an instrument of grace, need our help to clean up the mess and put the whole thing in perspective? David and Mary were not only relatives by blood, but they were heroes of faith. And they both made messes.
I guess one of our callings is to stop trying to be so wise and well equipped and start wearing and using our faith. It will get us into ridiculous situations, no doubt, and it will make messes that we need help cleaning up. But my friends, aren't we called to be children of God, heroes of faith, worriers of the light?
Anybody want a head?
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. McKirachan is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
A Whale of a Storm
by Frank Ramirez
Mark 4:35-41
A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
-- Mark 4:37
Today's Bible story involves a storm on an inland sea in an era before the Coast Guard, GPS tracking, and the possibility of rescue. Although accidents and disasters still happen in bodies of water of all sizes, it's hard for many of us to imagine how desperate we would feel cut off from all possibility of help or to understand how hopeless the situation was for the apostles without the presence of Jesus. If they could wake him up.
Natural disasters, especially on the sea, happen all sorts of ways. Wouldn't you consider a whale ramming a boat in the middle of the trackless ocean a natural disaster? Though it was a rare event, one wonders why it didn't happen more often.
The story of the whaling ship Essex in 1820 illustrates the desperation of being cast adrift at sea, far from any help. Although it was an older ship it was highly thought of when it sailed out of Nantucket on August 12, 1819. Captain George Pollard Jr., was one of the youngest captains in what was a thriving industry.
On November 16 of the following year, in the south Pacific Ocean, in what perhaps should have been taken as a warning, one of the Essex's four whale boats was smashed to pieces by a whale surfacing beneath it. Four days later the three remaining small craft set out after a whale. Turning back Pollard and First Officer Owen Chase were shocked to see that the whale they had been chasing had turned back and was ramming the Essex, battering it until it was a doomed ship, causing it to slowly sink, 2,000 miles west of South America, with no hope of rescue or aid.
The three boats turned back, and before the Essex sank, they outfitted themselves with makeshift masts and sails and loaded what supplies they could. Though they lived on strict rations, their food and water were almost gone and the crews were near death a few weeks later when they spotted and landed on Henderson Island. For a time they ate well and drank deep of the freshwater springs, but they soon decimated the habitat of its animal and bird population and faced starvation once more. They set out again. Even so, three of their number remained behind rather than face the open ocean, hoping they had a better chance of survival.
What followed is a story of desperation. One of the boats disappeared altogether. The others struggled with the choice of whether or not to resort to cannibalism when fellow crew-members died. In one instance the process was hastened through the drawing of straws and a murder.
After 95 days at sea a few reached the vicinity of land and were rescued. Ships were sent out to Henderson Island to find the three there barely alive. In the end there were only eight survivors, and the story of desperation and hopelessness on the open seas caused many to wonder what they themselves might have done in similar seemingly hopeless circumstances. The story, published in books with titles like Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, excited a great deal of wonder and attracted the attention of one writer, Herman Melville, who decades later would eventually incorporate the tale of a monster whale destroying a ship into his 1851 novel Moby Dick.
Does anyone really know how they will respond to desperate situations until they experience them? I wonder if the apostles could have predicted that they would speak harshly, even angrily, to Jesus in their distress. Would we have done any better?
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, and three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 24, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
