At our Free Store conversation on Friday morning we talked about Jesus' parable in Luke 17:7-9, "Who has a Servant Ploughing?" In this story Jesus asks us to imagine a servant that has been out in the field all day. The man comes back to the house in the evening. Is it more likely that at the end of a hard day of work the master will say, "Sit down and let me get you dinner?" or that he will say, "Fix me dinner and then you can get something to eat?"
We started the conversation by talking about the importance of stories. Someone said that parents tell their children stories as a way to teach them about life. Another friend asked if we remembered having our parents read us bedtime stories at the end of the day. Linda said, "I didn't get stories. My parents were too busy workin." George told us that he didn't get stories but remembered his mama saying, "Go to bed boy" which made us laugh.
As the conversation continued we talked about the likelihood that a master would fix dinner at the end of the day for a servant that came in from work. George made us laugh when he said, "Prob'ly not. But if so he got a good heart." Sheila blurted out, "It ain't gonna happen." She thought it was more likely that the master would say, "If there is something left over you get it." She said the servant was probably thinking, "Don't eat it all" which made us laugh.
At this point we talked about the dynamics involved in a master-servant relationship. Sheila said, "It's love-hate." Rick said, "It's ace-deuce" which made us laugh. This led us to talk about how many relationships are unequal in some respect. Whether it's parent/child or boss/employee it seems that there is always someone that has the power and someone that doesn't. Someone said, "I think Jesus is challenging these unequal relationships. I think he is asking us to imagine a world were there are no inferiors and superiors, no higher and lower, where no one has power over another."
As the conversation progressed Sheila said, "It's not hard to be honest. Sometimes it might be." Although we weren't sure how this fit in someone else said, "What would have happened if the servant in the story had been honest and told the master he was tired and didn't want to make dinner?" Terrence smiled and said, "He can't be honest." Rick said that the master would have said, "You can go to bed just do it somewhere else" which made us laugh. Another friend said, "It can be hard to be honest. The reality is that we may not really want to hear the truth." The question was then asked if we had ever had someone tell us something we knew was true but didn't want to hear. Rick said, "One time two guys that worked for me sat on the mike in the work truck. I had to listen to what an SOB I was for twenty minutes" which made us laugh. Sheila said, "My ex-husband Carl and I had a long conversation before we divorced. It was honest but it still hurt."
As the conversation moved to its conclusion the question was asked, "Why wouldn't a master thank a servant?" Sheila said, "He's a butthole" which made us laugh. She went on to say, "He has his own pride. He doesn't want to change." At this Linda jumped in and said, "This story makes me think of Cinderella. It's a fairy tale but it sounds like a nightmare to me" which made us laugh even though we didn't quite know how it fit in. She also said, "I wouldn't like it if they slaved me." Someone said, "Relationships can be very rigid. Parents will often just assume their kids have to do what they are told and won't say thank you to their kids. Maybe if relationships were more equal there would be a better give and take." Another friend said, "I remember mom spankin me but not thankin me" which made us laugh. Sheila said, "My kids used to do stuff for me because I was so tired." George said, "My stepdaughter brought me pancakes and eggs so I thanked her." Terrence said, "I think this was pretty good. It deals with secret issues of the heart. We can keep a good relationship with others. Just be active and speak out."
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