Lunch with God
How about having lunch with God? Today is the day to do something different. Start by stepping out the front door. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ~ Bilbo Baggins [J.R.R. Tolkien]
Twinkie & Root Beer Lunch with God
Jimmy Martin was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer, opened the front door, and started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase.
He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer.
Once again, she smiled at him. Jimmy Martin was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.
As it grew dark, Jimmy Martin realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When he opened the door to his own house a short time later; his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.
She asked him:
"What did you do today that made you so happy?"
He replied:
"I had lunch with God."
But before his mother could respond, he added:
"You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked:
"Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?"
She replied:
"I ate Twinkies in the park with God."
But before her son responded, she added:
"You know, He's much younger than I expected."
The Butterfly Struggle
When he was a small boy, he had loved butterflies. Oh, not
to net and mount them, but to wonder at their designs and
habits.
Now a grown man with his first son to be born in a few
weeks, he found himself once again fascinated with a cocoon.
He had found it at the side of the park path. Somehow the
twig had been knocked from the tree and the cocoon had
survived undamaged and still woven to the branch.
As he had seen his mother do, he gently protected it by
wrapping it in his handkerchief and carried it home. The
cocoon found a temporary home in a wide-top mason jar with
holes in the lid. The jar was placed on the mantle for easy
viewing and protection from their curious cat who would
delight in volleying the sticky silk between her paws.
The man watched. His wife's interest lasted only a moment,
but he studied the silky envelope. Almost imperceptibly at
first, the cocoon moved. He watched more closely and soon
the cocoon was trembling with activity. Nothing else
happened. The cocoon remained tightly glued to the twig and
there was no sign of wings.
Finally the shaking became so intense, the man thought the
butterfly would die from the struggle. He removed the lid on
the jar, took a sharp pen knife from his desk drawer, and
carefully made a tiny slit in the side of the cocoon. Almost
immediately, one wing appeared and then outstretched the
other. The butterfly was free!
It seemed to enjoy its freedom and walked along the edge of
the mason jar and along the edge of the mantle. But it
didn't fly. At first the man thought the wings needed time
to dry, but time passed and still the butterfly did not take
off.
The man was worried and called up his neighbor who taught
high school science. He told the neighbor how he had found
the cocoon, placed it in the mason jar, and the terrible
trembling as the butterfly struggled to get out. When he
described how he had carefully made a small slit in the
cocoon, the teacher stopped him. "Oh, that is the reason.
You see, the struggle is what gives the butterfly the
strength to fly."