Jonathots Daily Blog
(2394)
What if a voice of sanity had risen up at various stages in the story of human history, to offer a challenging view when craziness was about to win the day?
If …
Dad arrived just in time.
His youngest son was already primed and ready to run out the door to go see his older brother to try to reconcile hurt feelings. The siblings had never really been close, yet the bond of family had always meshed them with a sense of loyalty. But recent events had exacerbated the tenuous feelings, generating a volatile situation. A simple misunderstanding had turned into a sense of rejection, culminating in a looming burst of rage.
When the incident happened, Dad stepped between them to prevent violence, but the younger son, having a more optimistic nature, believed all that was needed was a good conversation. So he had privately decided to go off on his own, without any counsel, to see his brother at the work site so they could “rummage through their feelings” and arrive at resolution.
Fortunately, Dad came on the scene–just in time.
“Where are you going?” Dad asked.
The young man paused for a second, wondering if he could possibly deceive his father and achieve his own purposes, but then realized that was contrary to his heart.
“You know where I’m going. I’m going to make peace with my brother.”
The father smiled. “I know that seems like a good idea to you, and far be it from me to be against peace, but your brother is a complicated man and his emotions and thoughts are not privy to you, and therefore not available.”
The young man frowned.
Sensing his son’s disagreement, the father continued. “We could talk about this all day and we wouldn’t agree. What I would like you to do is trust me. If I end up being wrong, I’ll be the first to admit it. But I would like you to leave your brother alone for a while, until you and I agree on a better time. Because if you go and see him now, all you’re going to do is remind him of the pain of the conflict, and perhaps incense him over the idea that you appear to be the better brother because you’re trying to make things right. I want you to promise me–based upon our friendship and bond–that you will stay away from him until things are better.”
The young man objected. “But how can things get better if we don’t make them better?”
The father patted him on the shoulder and said, “Son, sometimes things don’t get better. But if we interfere, we can make them worse.”
He gave his younger son a hug. The boy agreed to stay away from his older brother until such time as was deemed appropriate.
As it turned out, the conversation never actually happened. The two brothers, who had never been particularly close, maintained a distance throughout their lives. They learned how to be appropriate during family gatherings, and gave each other proper respect and space.
Cain and Abel never became close friends.
But because Adam took his position as a father and intervened in a dangerous situation … no one had to die.
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