Jun 2017
Bare feet come running down the stairs and
Then they run right through the screen door bursting
Onto the front porch stopping only briefly
To look at me and smile – then Zeke plants
Those feet once again as he runs and jumps into my lap.
The church bells begin playing their toll while
This beautiful 8 year old gift bounces back and forth
Chanting – Happy Birthday to Me – Happy Birthday to Me.
On the walkway out front a half dozen people pass all
In their Sunday best as Zeke waves to them still
Singing himself his birthday song.
None of the six wave back – all toting their Bibles
Shaking their heads ignoring Zeke - and me as well.
“How come you don’t go to church?” Zeke asks turning
Those bright blue eyes up toward mine while scratching
His right foot and with a small lock of hair across his left eye.
“Let’s see, you just graduated the second grade, did you not?”
I asked already knowing the answer pushing the hair out of his eye.
“Yep,” he replied - “Teacher says that I’m now a third grader and
She told Mom that she was going to see if the board would let
Me skip the third grade because she thinks it would be a waste for me.”
“That’s great Zeke,” But what do you think about that,” I ask?
“I don’t know, I try not to think about it – I don’t want to lose my friends,”
Zeke said with that small, sweet childish voice that makes everything understood.
“It’s OK Zeke, it’s OK to be frightened of the unknown – hey – you being
Almost a fourth grader – how well can you read now,” I asked?
Quickly he turned and grabbed my paper saying, “I can read anything, Grandpa.”
With that he read the headline on the small town gazette.
“Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Ten Commandments Abolished from Courthouse,”
And then he continues on with the rest of the article.
It’s clear to me that he knows the words but does he grasp their meaning?
I let him read the entire article aloud and when he finishes, “How was that,” he asks?
“That was great Zeke, really good reading,” taking away the paper from him.
“Now tell me what you read, what did you learn?’'
“Umm, the court said that the town cannot put the – the commands on the walls
Of the cord house,” he said confidently.
Knowing this little man did his job as best he could
I patted him on the head in approval saying, “Very Good, real good.”
“But why don’t you go to church Grandpa,” he asked again?
“Do you now where I keep the Bible,” I asked him back?
“Sure, it’s that big book on the coffee table, isn’t it,” he stated
While pointing to the adjacent living room wall.
“Yep, that’s it – why don’t you go get it and bring it out here?”
Without saying a word he was back on the porch floor with
Those quick feet headed to the screen door – patta-pat-patta-pat
Inside – then he rewinds the effort as he comes back to me
With the large 5 pound Bible in hand.
Handing me the Bible he climbs back in my lap.
I scrunch him up under my arm with his legs and feet out straight
Placing the Bible in his lap and opening it to Matthew 19:23-26.
Pointing at verse 23 - I ask Zeke to read the verse.
“I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of 'the' needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Zeke laughed - “A camel cannot go through the eye of 'a' needle,” he said.
“Not so fast Zeke,” I said questioning his reasoning, “Are you sure that you know
What is being said?”
Zeke looked at the good book, “I think so?”
“OK, look at it from Jesus’s point of view.
In Jesus’s time there were 12 gates to Jerusalem and
One of those gates was so small that they called that gate
The Eye of The Needle and it is this gate that Jesus was
Referring to – Now does the verse make more sense?”
He leaned back into me saying, “Yes – now it makes sense -
Jesus was talking about a gate that was hard to get a camel through.”
“Good Zeke, so now you see that it is important to understand
The meaning of every word and of every phrase – otherwise - your
Mouth is just spitting out meaningless words and if you do
That often enough other people learn to do the same thing.”
“But how do you know this grandpa?”
He turned those blue inquisitive eyes upward to me.
“Because I’ve seen the remnants of the Eye of The Needle, Son.”
We sat there on the porch all morning – him asking –
Me trying to explain things – when all at once he turned the pages
Back to the parable of the Eye of The Needle and he pointed
At the scripture saying, “I see why you don’t go to church, Grandpa.”
He reread aloud, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
He looked at me while pointing to the verse.
“No man can save us can he grandpa?”
'Happy Birthday, Zeke,' I said smiling as we rocked away in our own harmony.
Then they run right through the screen door bursting
Onto the front porch stopping only briefly
To look at me and smile – then Zeke plants
Those feet once again as he runs and jumps into my lap.
The church bells begin playing their toll while
This beautiful 8 year old gift bounces back and forth
Chanting – Happy Birthday to Me – Happy Birthday to Me.
On the walkway out front a half dozen people pass all
In their Sunday best as Zeke waves to them still
Singing himself his birthday song.
None of the six wave back – all toting their Bibles
Shaking their heads ignoring Zeke - and me as well.
“How come you don’t go to church?” Zeke asks turning
Those bright blue eyes up toward mine while scratching
His right foot and with a small lock of hair across his left eye.
“Let’s see, you just graduated the second grade, did you not?”
I asked already knowing the answer pushing the hair out of his eye.
“Yep,” he replied - “Teacher says that I’m now a third grader and
She told Mom that she was going to see if the board would let
Me skip the third grade because she thinks it would be a waste for me.”
“That’s great Zeke,” But what do you think about that,” I ask?
“I don’t know, I try not to think about it – I don’t want to lose my friends,”
Zeke said with that small, sweet childish voice that makes everything understood.
“It’s OK Zeke, it’s OK to be frightened of the unknown – hey – you being
Almost a fourth grader – how well can you read now,” I asked?
Quickly he turned and grabbed my paper saying, “I can read anything, Grandpa.”
With that he read the headline on the small town gazette.
“Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Ten Commandments Abolished from Courthouse,”
And then he continues on with the rest of the article.
It’s clear to me that he knows the words but does he grasp their meaning?
I let him read the entire article aloud and when he finishes, “How was that,” he asks?
“That was great Zeke, really good reading,” taking away the paper from him.
“Now tell me what you read, what did you learn?’'
“Umm, the court said that the town cannot put the – the commands on the walls
Of the cord house,” he said confidently.
Knowing this little man did his job as best he could
I patted him on the head in approval saying, “Very Good, real good.”
“But why don’t you go to church Grandpa,” he asked again?
“Do you now where I keep the Bible,” I asked him back?
“Sure, it’s that big book on the coffee table, isn’t it,” he stated
While pointing to the adjacent living room wall.
“Yep, that’s it – why don’t you go get it and bring it out here?”
Without saying a word he was back on the porch floor with
Those quick feet headed to the screen door – patta-pat-patta-pat
Inside – then he rewinds the effort as he comes back to me
With the large 5 pound Bible in hand.
Handing me the Bible he climbs back in my lap.
I scrunch him up under my arm with his legs and feet out straight
Placing the Bible in his lap and opening it to Matthew 19:23-26.
Pointing at verse 23 - I ask Zeke to read the verse.
“I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of 'the' needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Zeke laughed - “A camel cannot go through the eye of 'a' needle,” he said.
“Not so fast Zeke,” I said questioning his reasoning, “Are you sure that you know
What is being said?”
Zeke looked at the good book, “I think so?”
“OK, look at it from Jesus’s point of view.
In Jesus’s time there were 12 gates to Jerusalem and
One of those gates was so small that they called that gate
The Eye of The Needle and it is this gate that Jesus was
Referring to – Now does the verse make more sense?”
He leaned back into me saying, “Yes – now it makes sense -
Jesus was talking about a gate that was hard to get a camel through.”
“Good Zeke, so now you see that it is important to understand
The meaning of every word and of every phrase – otherwise - your
Mouth is just spitting out meaningless words and if you do
That often enough other people learn to do the same thing.”
“But how do you know this grandpa?”
He turned those blue inquisitive eyes upward to me.
“Because I’ve seen the remnants of the Eye of The Needle, Son.”
We sat there on the porch all morning – him asking –
Me trying to explain things – when all at once he turned the pages
Back to the parable of the Eye of The Needle and he pointed
At the scripture saying, “I see why you don’t go to church, Grandpa.”
He reread aloud, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
He looked at me while pointing to the verse.
“No man can save us can he grandpa?”
'Happy Birthday, Zeke,' I said smiling as we rocked away in our own harmony.
Religion teaches anything but how to find yourself. And yet it is only through one's own self can we ever hope to be found.
