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Stillpoint

Stillpoint

Then came Susan ...
The Keepers of the vine

GRANDMA’S LIVING ROOM was large and dark. She kept the shades down so her furniture wouldn’t fade. And one day, when I was five years old, I sat on her living room floor playing with my toy cars. I had at least a hundred: cars, fire-engines, buses, tractors, everything – even a hearse!

For me, playing cars was serious business. It took at least two hours at a time. I placed my toybox in the middle of the floor. Then I took each car out of the box, one by one, and began forming them into a circle. I was very careful. No two fire-engines could be together. No two cars the same colour. It was tedious work, but I was a determined kid.

When the circle was complete, I sat in the middle and admired my handiwork. And since Grandma never used the living room, my circle remained intact for days. I returned time and time again to make minor adjustments: the red pickup looks better behind the dump-truck … the jeep seems a little out of line … and so forth.

One morning, I was sitting in the middle of my circle. Peace and contentment bathed my five-year-old face as I surveyed my almost perfect toy kingdom. BUT THEN CAME SUSAN …

Susan was a three-year-old. And she was a live-wire. Susan took one look at my toys and charged, kicking and throwing my cars all over the room. She was laughing and squealing – I was crying and screaming – and Grandma dashed in to see who was being murdered. 

She told me later that I cried for two hours, and she had to rock me to sleep that night. How can you sleep when your world has been destroyed?

Next morning I went in to survey the damage. My cars were scattered everywhere, and I began the slow, painful process of rebuilding. But when Grandma told me Susan was coming over again, I gave up in despair. 

Then Susan arrived – and she suggested we take the cars OUTSIDE. What an idea! I hadn’t thought of that. But what if they get dirty? What if one of my precious toys gets lost or broken? It wasn’t my idea of playing cars, but I gave in. I decided to risk it. No use trying to build a circle with Susan around.

Well, we played outside all day. We put real dirt in the dump-truck. We shoved the cars across the front porch as hard as we could. We made ramps and forts and tunnels. I even let Susan talk me into crashing cars together!

I had no idea playing cars could be so much fun …

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that day. I’ve heard thousands of sermons, sat through countless lectures, got a degree in theology … But I reckon Susan taught me all I really need to know: 

Faith is the freedom to leave the dark musty living room and risk what we love most in the great outdoors!


Wes Seeliger (Adapted) – ‘Western Theology’
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