WORDS FROM W.W. January 31, 2016
Henry came through the front door with his brief case and the usual end-of-the-day exhaustion.
“Sara, I’m home!”
He heard some stirring in the kitchen, the banging of some pots and pans…which was never a good sign…and then the movement of feet heading his way. Sara entered the hallway with heavy feet and a frown from ear to ear.
“Henry, you’re going to have to have a heart-to-heart with your son. I can’t believe what he did today.”
“What did Tommy do?” asked Henry, his tiredness level suddenly reaching a new depth.
“He cheated on his math test at school today, and then blatantly lied about it to his teacher.”
“What? That’s not like Tommy! Math isn’t his strong suit, but he would never cheat and lie about it.”
“Well, he has started a new trend then! Mrs. Matthews noticed him looking at the paper of the girl he sits in the seat beside him, and his test paper was number for number the same as hers.”
Henry was still trying to comprehend his own flesh-and-blood doing such a thing. Tommy wasn’t the best student, but his fourth grade report card was a mixture of “A’s” and “B’s”. How could this be? There had to be some kind of misunderstanding going on here. He called for Tommy, who had been confined to quarters since he got home from school. A few seconds later the soft steps of socks on carpet came down the stairs, and a boy with a puppy dog face slinked into the room.
“Tommy, is it true what your mom just told me? Did you cheat on your math test today and then lie about it?”
“Yes, Dad,” he whispered.
“I’m in shock. What would ever give you the idea to do such a thing?” Henry was trying to keep it together, but his mind was racing ahead to what the punishment should be…grounding until Tommy turned eighteen…no TV for a year…send him away to military boarding school…the options were limitless.
“It was in the Bible.”
“What did you say?”
“I read it in the Bible.”
“Cheating on math tests is in the Bible?”
“Not math tests, but it’s in there. I was reading about Jacob last night, and how he cheated his brother out of his birthright, and then he lied to his father. It’s right there.”
“What?” Henry asked with a high level of disbelief.
“Don’t you remember? His mom had him put some hairy stuff on his arms and his dad touched them, asked him if he was really Jacob, and he said yes. And then he got his father’s blessing!”
Henry could feel the words rising up within him. He tried to hold back, but he couldn’t stop them from emerging from his lips. “That’s different!”
A moment of uncomfortable silence ensued. Tommy looked confused and his dad suddenly was feeling uncomfortable about this conversation.
“I don’t understand. How was what Jacob did different from what I did?”
“It was a different time and place…and…ahhh…people didn’t know any better…and his brother deserved it…and…ahhh…it’s just how it was and things are different now.”
Henry recognized that there was an “No Outlet” sign on this path he had taken. Quite honestly, he didn’t understand the “Jacob Blessing” story either, and he knew he had cornered by his son’s confusion. It was time to own up to it!
“Tommy, here’s the truth! I don’t fully understand that story in the Bible. I can’t say it was right for Jacob to cheat and lie back then, and it’s wrong for you to cheat and lie today. All I know is that it’s not the right thing for you to do, and I think deep down you probably know that as well.”
Tommy looked at the carpet for a few moments and said, “Yes…I kind of knew it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
“That’s good to hear, because I’m pretty sure, most of the time, you can figure out what the right thing to do is.”
“You’re right, Dad!”
“And even though Jacob cheated and lied and received his father’s blessing, his actions had some consequences later on.”
They looked at one another for a moment and Henry then took a step towards his son and placed his hand on his shoulder. “I doubt that Mrs. Matthews is going to give you a pass on this one just because you know the story of Jacob, but I’m going to show you some grace. In regards to Mrs. Matthews I want you to go to her tomorrow morning and apologize for what you did. Tell her you know it wasn’t right and you want to make things right from now on.”
“Okay!” He put his arms around his dad’s mid-section and hugged him and said, “Thanks, Dad!”
“I love you, son!”
“Love you too, Dad!”
Words from WW Blog 