Theo of Golden - Reflections (4)

 

Yesterday evening Vickie and I were reading about Clarise, and while we meet her well into the book, I want to write about her while a memory associated with her is fresh.

The coffee shop which displays the portraits that Theo purchases and presents is The Chalice. It is located at the corner of Broadway and Light streets and is owned by Shep and Addie Carlile. There is much in the previous two sentences.

We all have our Chalices, we all have people in our lives whom our Father has placed for us to “see” by His grace. Why, we may very well see folks who have never been noticed by anyone, never really been spoken to by anyone, never prayed for by anyone, never cared for any anyone. Our neighborhoods, workplaces, families, schools, civic associations – they are all chalices. They are cups which our dear Lord Jesus has given to us to drink, He is the barista, and He chooses the drink of the day. Will we sacramentally accept and honor those whom He presents to us?

What else do you see in the Chalice? 

Now to Clarise…and Cleave. 

When I was a young man, I was employed by a national homebuilder in a project office in Waldorf, MD. We were building 5 or 6 subdivisions in the area and I worked with a great group of people. My boss Dave was one of the best ever, he was considerate, hardworking, kind, loyal, and knew what he was doing. He was a great teacher. My job was a bit of everything, purchasing, estimating, troubleshooting, budgeting, cost accounting, and playing practical jokes. It was a wonderful work environment. 

A time came when we needed to recruit a project bookkeeper so that I could focus on other areas. After a few interviews we hired Brenda. 

While Brenda had once been in the workplace, at the time we met her she was a stay-at-home wife and Mom and had not worked for about ten years; she was about 35 years old. Like Clarise, she was attractive; also like Clarise, there was pain in her eyes. 

When Brenda began working with us she was tentative about everything she did and she seldom spoke except to ask and answer questions. However, as time went on she opened up, enjoying her new surroundings and coworkers. She freely engaged in conversations, she laughed, she learned, and she was quite good at her job. She smiled a lot, she relaxed; she worked hard, and she loved her job. Brenda had a bright future with our company.

However, one morning about five months into her time with us, Brenda came into the office crying. Her husband demanded that she quit her job and stay home. It seems that Brenda’s newfound joy and confidence was a threat to her husband’s control of her, and a threat to his own sense of security.

The crushed flower that had opened, had been crushed again.

That was 45 years ago and I can still picture those five months, I can still picture Brenda’s evolving joy, and I can still see her sorrow and fear as she resigned. 

When I was reading to Vickie about Clarise and Cleave, images of Brenda came flooding into my heart and mind, and while I have told the story to Vickie before, I referenced it again.

This was not the last time I met Brenda, in the sense of meeting people in similar situations. There are women and men and children all around us who have been crushed by others, controlled by others, and who know what it is to have the millstone of circumstance grind hope and joy and peace from seemingly every pore of their soul. 

But consider the passage that Jesus reads in His home synagogue:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18 – 19). 

This passage so infuriated Jesus’ audience that they tired to murder Him. 

It seems to me that there are those who desire to control others, and those who want to see others set free. The former often cloak their motives and actions in noble sentiments, such as, “I want what is best for you. I don’t want you to be hurt. I just want you to learn.” However, it is really about control, about controlling people and situations and about being the center of the universe. 

I have seen this in marriages (much of my marriage counseling has dealt with this), in extended families, in congregations and church leadership (in which emotional blackmail and tyrannical control is not unusual), in businesses, and in civic and political groups (I know, you are thinking, “You can’t be serious”).

In short, an element of fallen humanity is our insistence on controlling others.

Yet, we have the choice to stand with Jesus and, by His grace, seek to set others free. We have opportunities to play the role of Theo of Golden in the lives of others, affirming them, acknowledging their pain, sharing the love of their heavenly Father with them, and calling them home to Him, which is where they belong, which is where they have always belonged. 

“I will proclaim Your Name to My brethren” (Hebrews 2:12).

May I gently suggest that if we are honest, that most of us have likely played both roles in the lives of others, we know what it is to attempt to control others, and we also (hopefully) know the joy of seeing others set free. We can learn and grow from both experiences, let us not waste either of them. Jesus can redeem our foolish attempts at control, He can teach us from our errors, and we can learn to serve and care and love…perhaps as we’ve never thought possible. 

 In closing this reflection, has it occurred to you that every portrait by Asher Glissen is also a portrait by Allen Levi?

You may purchase Theo of Golden from Amazon or from www.allenlevi.com

Who can we share freedom with today? (Galatians 5:1).