A Blessed Time

“To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ “ Matthew 11:16-17

Sometimes I can read and read a passage and come up blank, with no understanding whatsoever. This is one of those passages. I have read it many times through the years and it has not yielded its secrets. Hello, google? What can you tell me about this verse? Well, if Bible teacher Bob Dodson is correct, it references an old fable of Aesop, who wrote a whole collection of stories with morals several centuries before Christ.

This particular one is about a fisherman who got frustrated. He expected that if he played beautifully on his flute, the fish would “dance” out of the water on to the shore. Well, they did not. So he finally got his net, caught the fish and dumped them on the sand. There they finally “danced”, flailing and flapping. He said to the fish, “I played a tune for you and you did not dance, and now all you can do is dance.” In other words, the fisherman gave the fish plenty of opportunities to hear and follow him, but the fish did not take advantage of it. 

In this day and age, we certainly have an abundance of resources to learn more about Jesus and understand His words. Just for Advent, there are so many free ‘pilgrimages’, recollections and talks available online given by really great speakers. Scott Hahn, Lee Strobel, Ann Voskamp, and so many more, have made available their resources. There are free advent activities for children, bible studies, story telling, etc. There is no lack of ways to grow closer to God, and to savor this blessed, sacred time. Let the lack not be in us.