Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Enter (02/27/06)
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TITLE: Come! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jonna Turek
03/04/06 -
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I force my feet to move and carry me, awkwardly, through the fateful portal, into the Presence. I must face him alone and accept my fate.
Inside, Mr. Crom, my elementary school principal, seated behind his battered army surplus desk, appears to my six-year-old eyes to be all-powerful and completely terrible.
“Well, Rebecca,” he rumbles, “What’s this I hear that you have done?”
Petrified by fear, I cannot reply.
“Mrs. Abrahams tells me that you threw sand at Candace during recess. Is that right?” He asks gently.
Tears well up in my eyes and I can only nod, then quickly shake my head, then nod again, and finally blurt out, “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know there was sand in the Kool-Aid paper I found. I held it and whirled around and around. I didn’t mean to get sand in her eyes...she’s my friend,” and with a gulp I begin to sob.
That incident happened more than forty years ago, but it remains fresh in my memory, every detail crisp and clear. I can still smell the unique scent of the grammar school hallway; the aroma of equal parts floor wax, chalk dust and sweaty children. I remember the dress I wore that day and Mr. Crom’s brown tweed jacket. What I don’t remember is the outcome of that interview. What happened after I began to cry?
I suppose my principal reminded me to be more careful, and I must have had to apologize to my little friend, but those events have faded with the years. Only the fear and trepidation of knocking on the door and going inside to face the music remain.
The authority figures from our growing up years have a profound effect on our view of the world as adults. Many, who had a distant or violent, or otherwise unsatisfactory father, find it difficult to believe in a just and loving Father in Heaven. The image of God that they see is much closer to my childish perception of my principal than to the image of a comforting parent.
For someone with that sort of background, Jesus’ invitation in the book of Luke, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened,” becomes a challenge requiring extraordinary courage to accept.
Many fearful questions present themselves, such as “If I open that door, what will happen to me?”, or “Will Jesus punish me? I haven’t been as good as I should.”
It is up to the Christians who have already entered through that door and been embraced by our loving Father through his glorious Son to reassure those who stand outside and fear to knock.
If I had spoken to other naughty children who had been to the Principal’s Office, and heard from them that it was not so bad, I might have approached my interview with more boldness.
Accepting Jesus is not just “not so bad”. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. Let us Christians show our joy at having gone through the open door and entered into Christ’s presence, so that those who stand outside, trembling, can take heart, open the door and let Jesus enter unto them, as well.
Jesus stands and knocks, too, only without fear and with eternal patience. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:19-21)
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