Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I love the woman in this story, though I'd rather admire her from afar. Here is one of those women who knows what she wants and knows she should have it, a perfect terror to men.
I picked up Tolstoy's War and Peace a few months ago. I've read it twice already but I could hardly put the book down for my delight in meeting again the dreadful "Anna Pavlovna Sherer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Marya Federovna." She's a woman who, if you saw her coming in the street, you'd duck down an alley to avoid. But because she is indomitable the entire novel depends upon her two interventions. (If you've not yet read War and Peace, you must!
I picked up Tolstoy's War and Peace a few months ago. I've read it twice already but I could hardly put the book down for my delight in meeting again the dreadful "Anna Pavlovna Sherer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Marya Federovna." She's a woman who, if you saw her coming in the street, you'd duck down an alley to avoid. But because she is indomitable the entire novel depends upon her two interventions. (If you've not yet read War and Peace, you must!
Jesus' widow should be called "Anna Pavlovna." She knows the judge can answer her prayer. He can, must and will! He is, after all, only a man. As "Maria Portokalos" says in My Big Fat Greek Wedding said, "The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants."
In 1215 the lords of England forced King John to sign the Magna Carta and acknowledge that the king is also subject to the law. He hated the idea but had no choice. That principle still governs our presidents and governors more than 800 years later. We regard it with such reverence we might suppose that God too is subject to the law.
Not!
There is no automatic principle, mechanism or impersonal device higher than the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God's decisions are just; they make justice.
Does the woman in Jesus' parable have a just claim in a human court of law? It doesn't matter. She will have her settlement in her own way because the judge, fearing for his life, will decide in her favor. Like the decision of the baseball umpire or basketball referee, it's final, settled and done.
This is not to say God governs arbitrarily, by divine whims or moods. That's not the point.
We have the scriptures and our long memory of God's constant mercy to assure us of God's constancy. But his dependability does not render him as a mindless power, energy or machine. Rather, he is the Lord who hears prayers.
The widow in Jesus' story knows this, as do Anna Pavlovna and Maria Portokalos. And Jesus knows it better than anyone! He is so sure of it he calls the Lord, "Abba!" -- whom we dare to call "Our Father."
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.