Bedtime conversation, 1.10.10
Zag: Did you know there’s a story about Jesus and the house by the river? I heard it once, but I forgot.
WB: No, I don’t think I know that one.
Zag: They were in a little house right next to a very deep river. There were crocodiles in the river. And there was going to be a big fight. They put a sign on the door that said, “Bread and wine.”
WB: I see.
Zag: And they stayed in the house all day, because of the war that was outside. Except one brother, whose name was Joseph. There was an aunt there too. And that’s where Jesus was born. Did you know that?
WB: No, I didn’t.
Zag: The house was on top of a very very big hill, very big like this. And do you know what happened? It fell down the hill, and rolled, and rolled, and rolled right into the river. And it floated. It did.
WB: What happened to the people?
Zag: They were in it.
WB: They were still in the house? When it rolled down into the river?
Zag: Yes. But they were OK. They stayed in the house.
WB: But how did they get out again? Without being eaten by the crocodiles?
Zag: Well, they put an anchor on the house, did you know that? They put an anchor on the house before it fell. And they anchored it near the land. So they could just climb out and grab the land and pull the house over to the land.
WB: Wow. That must all have been very hard for Mary, with a new baby.
Zag: No, it was before Jesus was born.
WB: Well, it must have been very hard for Mary when she was so pregnant.
Zag: Actually, she was very calm. She just sat in her chair the whole time.
January 10th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
I suspect that if we could retrace his browsing through the illustrated children’s bible at church this morning, that this story would suddenly make a lot more sense. He was mostly looking at the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus, with Joseph and the Egyptians and Moses. Hadn’t occurred to me that might merge Joseph, son of Israel with Joseph, husband of Mary, although now that I say that it seems certain to me that this is exactly why Mary’s
joseph is known to us as Joseph . . .
January 11th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
that was a true LOL moment. I love the ending…of course the visual of everyone pulling the house to the land, anchored was a very nice touch…i always imagine his words in claymation, you know Wallace and Gromit-esgue…
January 11th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Not only is Zag amazing, your ability to recall his meandering thought processes and transmit them here for our enlightenment and edification is pretty impressive!
January 14th, 2010 at 1:11 am
It’s so NICE to get all the details of the “house on the rock and house on the sand” parable! So much more vivid and memorable! Too bad the Gospels have only the brief summary version. I can’t wait to get the complete versions of some of the other parables! I hope Zag will finally explain to me the one about the Unjust Steward!
And the glimpse into Mary’s habitual “pondering things in her heart” is good too. Now we know that she carried out this activity sitting calmly in her chair while her house rolled down a steep hill into a deep river filled with crocodiles. If that isn’t a wholesome example for us all (though perhaps a level of sanctity beyond many of us) I don’t know what is.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
it also occurs to me that this sounds like one of the stories that Garrison Keillor tells to show off the skills of his sounds effects person . . .