Mark 12:1-12
12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
We live in a time when the local market had advertised $15 per hour starting pay after the pandemic and now, 2023, advertises $11 per hour by banner. The nightly news has NYC and Chicago and LA finally discussing the homelessness for the First Time. We have witnessed homelessness since the ridiculous, agenda driven, Borders being opened. A disaster in humanitarian ... 'effort'. Social Media posts the migrants are having extreme difficulty in finding work. And this is brushed past as citizens talk about lay-offs. Restaurants are not as full. Nor is Home Depot.
Harsh? No, this is the news and isn't fake.
It's a time when people wonder if the downfall seen after World War I and II is upon us. Others are worried it is the end times or something like the Mad Max Movies.
And I have visited, in my thoughts, so many times this year, discussions with my grandmother about the Great Depression.
My grandmother Anita and my grandfather Ray lived as newlyweds in a suburb of Dallas in a 2 bedroom house, 1 bathroom, frame, white, Arts and Crafts House and paid for. I seem to remember Grandmother Anita said they paid $3,000 for the house. Soon, it would add on a bedroom and a large front porch. The kitchen was generously sized. Today, people are copying this farmhouse appeal, these kitchens stop me in my tracks. And people began to knock on the door for work. Grandmother and her sister, Eloise, collected pie tins and everyone had chicken and two vegetables. Tea was put in Mason Jars. Grandmother said they fed between 20 and 35 people a day. Just from door knocks. My grandfather was employed as an architect. So the domestic portion of the work, was done by Grandmother Anita.
My mother and I have discussed this a lot. Where did they sit. The backyard and came to the backdoor, by the kitchen. Were they the same people. Was it men. It was all ages, mostly men about, 1/3 women. Didn't seem to be the same, exact people. Lasted about 3 years, grew in number, then fell away. Raised the chickens. No one took the chickens. One time, a regular, stopped a live chicken theft.
I asked my grandmother one time if the people were clean. That annoyed her. She asked me, "WHY?" I had just seen the movie, "The Grapes of Wrath." Grandmother Anita relented. She said yes, they appeared to be, but all were downcast and not looking at each other. When someone was dirty, they'd apologize with a lot of mumbling. Grandmother told one man, he could use the faucet and hose in the back when the others weren't eating. She said he returned a lot and showered in the backyard with his clothes on. He quit looking dirty. And he didn't want anyone looking out the window.
20 years ago, my mother and I went to see the movie, "Seabiscuit," Starring Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges. Fabulous. Discussing the ways people react when life is very hard. It was based on life and truly marvelous. But when the Awards came up, it was the year of JRR Tolkien's movies, so the awards fell away.
The horse owner had started with bicycles and advanced during all the Great Depression to be the largest selling car dealership. Just as life was golden, his son was killed and his wife divorced him. But as life moves on, he remarried. And set about thinking about horses, as a new part of life. Charles Howard bought a colt, with an excellent horse background, but the colt was passed over for being lazy and small.
Which brought the trainer and rider Red Pollard into their lives. Red had been abandoned, rather neatly, but then, permanently, by his family. He looked for them for years. Went into boxing and was partially blinded. My Grandmother thought the lack of children in her backyard was worrisome and, always, was concerned about the people who had been there. One of the ways the great troubles of life have seams in life. And Charles Howard hired Red Pollard.
Wikipedia:
"The highly anticipated "race of the century" draws a sellout crowd, with 40 million more people listening on the radio. Seabiscuit takes an early lead until the far turn; following Pollard's advice, Woolf lets Seabiscuit look War Admiral in the eye before surging ahead, and Seabiscuit wins by four lengths, delighting the nation. A few months later, Seabiscuit injures his leg. Pollard, still recovering from his own injured leg, tends to the horse as they both heal. When Seabiscuit is fit enough to race again, Howard brings him back to the Santa Anita Handicap, but is reluctant to allow Pollard to ride and risk crippling himself for life. At the urging of Woolf and Marcela, Howard relents.
Pollard, using a self-made leg brace, finds himself and Seabiscuit facing Woolf in the race. Seabiscuit drops far behind the field until Woolf pulls his horse alongside Pollard, allowing Seabiscuit a good look at his mount. With Woolf's encouragement, Seabiscuit surges ahead and passes the others. Heading for the finish line several lengths ahead
Pollard explains that the story of Seabiscuit is not merely of three men who fixed a broken-down horse, but that Seabiscuit fixed them and, in a way, they fixed one another."
One race was left in the season. A week after the San Antonio, Seabiscuit and Kayak II both took the gate for the Santa Anita Handicap and its $121,000 prize. 78,000 paying spectators crammed the racetrack, most backing Seabiscuit. Pollard found his horse blocked almost from the start. Picking his way through the field, Seabiscuit briefly led. As they thundered down the back straight, Seabiscuit became trapped in third place, behind leader Whichcee and Wedding Call on the outside.
Trusting in his horse's acceleration, Pollard steered between the leaders and burst into the lead, taking the firm ground just off the rail. As Seabiscuit showed his old surge, Wedding Call and Whichcee faltered, and Pollard drove his horse on, taking "The Hundred Grander" by a length and a half from the fast-closing Kayak II under jockey Leon Haas. Pandemonium engulfed the course. Neither horse and rider, nor trainer and owner, could get through the crowd of well-wishers to the winner's enclosure for some time.
The Horse Seabiscuit was completely famous during his life. Yet, like Red Pollard, would go on to have injuries in their lives. Seemed to be down and out. But the look on their faces in the photos tell us of the desire for caring and love led them to a greater and abundant life.
Seabiscuit is the Mark 12 version of perseverance. Who was the one who persevered in Mark 12? God. The Father who sees all hearts and all desires and believes we will work to overcome.
Jesus gave us the tools and said, I have Overcome the world.
Are these thoughts about the Great Depression harsh?
Not really, this was a time of great stress and so many believed, and with faith, all of mankind began again. God felt sure we would. And with His Help, we did and will again.
I have no insight if we go towards the Great Depression. I believe God is helping and we will continue to speak about His Help and Love. And we all will be helped.
%20multitudes.jpg)
%20Tule.jpg)
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment