A few years ago the story in church was about a talking donkey. There were four actors, to help us follow the dialogue. Each time a new character was introduced Ben asked me for clarification.
"Is the wizard good or bad?" he whispered.
"Balaam was trying to be good." I think.
"Is the angel good or bad?"
"He is good," I said confidently. Then I remembered that he stood with a sword ready to kill Balaam.
Next came King Balak.
"Is he good or bad?" Ben was in earnest, trying to sort it all out.
"Ask your father." More whispering.
Then the person depicting the poor misunderstood donkey came out.
"The donkey is definitely good." I was relieved to be sure of this.
Ben wants to know the players. Just tell him who to root for. But this particular story blurs the lines. Annoying.
The minister told us that Balaam is like our free will, which sometimes makes good choices, and other times falters. While it works in comic books to have all or nothing heroes, in real life we seem to be more of a mixed package. Out of focus.
The donkey represents our conscience, which will talk to us just like the donkey did, if we are willing to listen.
As chance would have it I recently watched an episode of a favorite show, Madame Secretary. Ok, three in a row. Anyway there was tension between the mother and daughter when the latter realized that her mother had done horrific things while in the CIA. Her mother tried to explain the travesties of war, and heart wrenching decisions that led to her quitting that job. The daughter packed her bag and left home.
One of the reasons I am enthralled with this show is the good marriage that rests firmly in the center of it. The husband and wife talk, trust each other, and cling fiercely to their integrity against the gales of life.
It is not about easy delineations between right and wrong. There are days when that is the world that I live in too.
Sometimes the only thing I have between me and disaster is an unexpected voice.
So the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”
And he said, “No.”
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before
Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
