Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: WALL (02/17/22)
-
TITLE: Release Bitterness Embrace Love | Previous Challenge Entry
By Art Fahy
02/24/22 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
When we visited, my uncle sat at the kitchen table with a glass of beer and ashtray in front of him. He always dressed the same. A pair of black work pants and white T-shirt. His son, Charles, once told me, “he would dress the same if the president came to visit.”
My Aunt Dot would occupy the couch in the living room. A gin and tonic always in arm’s reach. She wore house dresses and her jet black hair up in the popular bouffant hairstyle. A pack of Newport cigarettes rested next to her gin..
Stan and Dot sat in their respective areas and communicated through one of their three children. There was Mike the oldest, then Tom and Maureen the youngest. When Dot needed money for groceries she would tell one of her children and say something to the effect, “Maureen, tell your father I need money for groceries.”
Maureen knew who she was talking about. She would go into the kitchen and say, “daddy, mommy needs money for groceries.”
He sipped on his beer and spun his lighter on the table knowing this would irritate Dot not answering immediately. “How much does she want?”
Maureen would go back and ask her mother how much she wanted. Dot would tell her and Maureen would go back and tell her father the amount. He would always give her about ten dollars less than what she asked.
This behavior went on for about six years. Then one day the wall crumbled. Stan and Dot were speaking. Family members inquired why they stopped talking and what caused the turn around. They never gave a reason why they stopped talking and why they resumed their communication. Six weeks after they started to talk Ken had a massive heart attack sitting at the kitchen table dressed in his black work pants and white T-shirt.
Three years after Stan passed his sons Mike and Tom had a falling out. They stopped talking. All communication came to a halt. I appealed to them individually not to make the same mistake their parents made. We discussed many bible verses of Jesus telling us to live in peace. I pointed out 2 Corinthians 13:11 NIV “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” It was to no avail.
Mike and Tom raised their families and the non-communication continued. They even broke off communication with the rest of the family. Their children grew and never knew they had cousins. One September the oldest sons of each family entered college. The professor took roll that first day.
“Charles Daly.”
“Here.”
“Jack Daly.”
“Here.”
Charles and Jack looked at each other. Bewilderment blanketed their faces.
“Do you two know each other?” The professor asked.
“I don’t know.” Charles said.
After class Charles and Jack went for coffee. It didn’t take long before they discovered they were cousins. The boys told their parents about the encounter. Both fathers had the same reply. “Stay away from him.”
Charles and Jack didn’t listen. They double dated, went to the beach and even took a cruise together. They served as best man in each other’s wedding. Their fathers did not attend the wedding but their mothers did. The mothers reconciled their differences and visited their children and grandchildren often. My cousins, Mike and Tom, passed and never saw their sons’ family. They chose not to pick up the torch and be a peacemaker. The refusal to tear down the wall of hostility kept their joy out and their bitterness in.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
What a captivating entry! The content, tone, style, diction, flow are all good. The devil is not only a liar but also a desperate specialist for longer years than individual human life spans. So when he succeeds on an individual, he attacks viciously! That is what he did to your relatives. We pray for deliverance.