The Economy of The Kingdom

a summer sunset over the mountains, forest, and lake we call home.

When my mother’s cancer took a turn for the worse, a decision had to be made. My wife had been planning a party for our son’s first birthday. Our first born. Our only child. The only grandchild of both families. Yet it was clear we’d be forgoing my boy’s first fiesta at home. We then drove the roughly twenty-five-hundred kilometer road to San Diego.

While visiting my mother for the better part of two weeks, I became a witness to my son’s smiles soothing her soul. The laughter of a child is a salve to the spirit. It is an infection we would do well to put in the wind. And I began to see how royalty is made from generations.

The crown of the aged are their grandchildren…

from Proverbs 17:6

Over those dreary days, I had lived to see this ancient wisdom come true. Words written millenia ago still resounding today at a hospital overlooking the Pacific waves. Who am I to live to see such beautiful things?

At the end of our time in San Diego, I was treated to a breakfast with the one and only Michelle Varghoose and her equally endearing sister Sami. Though we spent hours in conversation, each of us left all the richer. Driving back to the hospital I called my mother.

She had risen from her siesta and commented how a small bag had been left in her room with a blanket. I asked who it could be from? She slowly replied it was a gift from a child at a local school. Then ceasing her words she began to weep.

The seconds passing were as spacious as the desert I was crossing. 

Composing her breath, my mother asked me if I remembered creating Christmas boxes for the orphanages we would visit when I was little. Did I remember the ones we sent to Tijuana and beyond? Did I remember what it was like to give without any thought of return?

Now, my mother told me in her affliction, she saw the compassion of a stranger. A lifetime of giving had been returned tenfold. I understand now what it feels like to receive, my mother said to me tearfully.

Isn’t that the economy of the kingdom of heaven? I replied.

Receiving this small gift had enriched every gift ever given. The next day my mother walked out of the hospital. Then a few weeks later, the lab work came back clean and cancer free. 

What. an. economy.

A gladdened soul is good medicine…

from Proverbs 17:22

Until next week,

-Steven

Looking for more? Read my most liked piece from 2023, The Creation Story is A Love Story or enjoy a moment with me and my son in Echoes of Eden. To all my subscribers, my gratitude for each of you continues to grow. If you have yet to subscribe, use the link below.