A couple had two sons who both wanted to be best – and whose parents thought that they could be. And thought indeed they should be.
They got off to what seemed to be a good start, informed as they were, on account of their very normal development, that they were very advanced for their age.
And then they went to school. Where one brother found what they were asked to do rather easier than the other.
And so he strived all the more strenuously and, because he did so for far longer, he achieved what many would call success. Which was in stark contrast to the one who found studying more difficult and was consequently perceived as a failure – somebody who would never make anything of his life and, in all probability, end up part of the criminal underclass by fulfilling everyone’s stereotypically low expectations.
But neither was happier than the other.
For just as one was cursed by his success and respectability, and the demands that were increasingly made on him, by both himself and others, so the other lived with his own, and everyone else’s, disappointment.
What were they to do?
If only, they thought, there was someone who could relieve them of their dis-respective burdens, one who recognised the weaknesses they shared, and accepted them just the same.
If only there was someone whose success they could enjoy even as they failed to match another’s high ideal, someone whose victory they could glory in even as daily they were defeated, someone they could rejoice in despite their constant sorrow.
If only there was someone who would give them rest.
And then they discovered there was: Jesus – the one who, despite their differing situations, meets both their very similar needs the same.
And goes on to say to us all:
‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ [Matthew 11:29-30]
Related posts:
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.
To read ‘Ascension Day’, click here.
To read ‘Speaking in Tongues’, click here.
Some musings 