This morning my wife and I watched an episode of Family Affair. For those of you not familiar with the show it was popular in the late 60's and followed the lives of 3 children, 1 older teen, Cissy, and 2 young fraternal twins, Buffy and Jody. The children were left orphaned and split up by the foster system (such that it was in the 60's) until they were all united with their Uncle Bill and his butler, Mr. French.
This particular episode focused on the unfortunate loss of Mrs. Beasley, the young girl's doll. After the doll was lost we are told that Mrs. Beasley was Buffy's only friend while she was separated from her twin brother and older sister. We were reminded that sometimes a doll is more than a doll, especially when it was the only source of comfort for a 6-year old girl.
One can only imagine how sad Buffy was. One can also only imagine how Uncle Bill felt as he realized the doll was the single most important person in his niece's life and made it his single purpose to find Mrs. Beasley.
As a part of that search he noticed a neighbor had given his daughter a doll which was very similar to the one Buffy lost. In desperation he decided to approach his neighbor and confront him about where he had gotten that doll from. The neighbor, his wife, and Uncle Bill decide to let Buffy decide whether or not the doll in question was in fact Mrs. Beasley. As it turns out the doll was not, and so the search went on.
But what would have happened if the doll was Mrs. Beasley? Who would that doll really belong to?
I retell this story because as I read this morning's passage I was reminded that sometimes we acquire things which truly are not ours. When King David had Uriah killed so that he could take Bathsheba as a wife, he took something that wasn't his, nor was it something he needed. David had many wives, he really didn't need another one. But, as the story is told, David became fixated on Bathsheba and had to have her.
God wasn't happy with what David had done. More importantly, God did not like how David had done what he did. As a result, that which was the outcome of what David had done was taken away. Unfortunately a human life was made to pay for how David had separated himself from the relationship between he, Uriah, and Bathsheba.
Human lives are still paying for the acquisition of things we think we need in our lives. The earth is being stripped of its life-giving sources and being replaced with the waste we produce. Plastics and mercury-filled electronics get buried in the soil next to the farms people depend on. Our waters are being poisoned by the carbons which fall from the sky, filling our fish with high levels of toxins and killing the coral our oceans need to live. The air we breathe is slow to regenerate because of the cutting down of oxygen-giving trees in our rain forests. Our planet is slowly degenerating due to a few human's needs for larger TV's, bigger homes, bigger cars, and extravagant parties.
In this morning's episode of Family Affair Mrs. Beasley is found and returned to her rightful owner. Buffy hugs her closest, dearest friend tightly and falls asleep with the world's largest smile. In today's society, if we can begin to understand that the things which we and others have are gifts from God, and should be treated as such, maybe things on our planet will be a little better.
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