April 9, 2010
Taking the Time to Make a Difference
An Easter question: What did you find . . . ?
BY PAUL R. LEINGANG
(Listen to Paul read this column | Weekly podcast)
I don’t know if my mother made it up, or if it was a cultural thing. It was a game played in our family and so far I haven’t found anyone else who ever heard of it.
The game was called by an unlikely name: “What’s in your milk bottle today?” That is the name I remember from childhood.
The object of the game had nothing to do with milk, or a milk bottle. It was in fact a simple game that required no parts or pieces, no board or playing surface — except the minds of the participants.
Here is the idea. Player one asks player two, “What’s in your milk bottle today?”
Player two decides on an answer, any answer, some thing small or large, any thing. It could be a flower or a deck of cards or an automobile. Anything at all.
The rules were simple. After player two answered the first question, player two had to continue to give that same answer to every question asked by player one.
What’s in your milk bottle today? A loaf of bread.
What do you use for a pillow when you go to sleep? A loaf of bread.
If someone offered you a million dollars, what would you ask for instead? A loaf of bread.
The sillier the questions, the better the game — since the object of the competition was to make another person laugh.
To win the competition, player one has to ask a question that player two will either refuse to give the chosen answer. Or the question will provide laughter instead.
What do you get if you win the Pulitzer Prize? A loaf of bread.
What if you went to a fancy restaurant, what would you order? A loaf of bread.
What do baseball players use for second base? A loaf of bread.
A simple game it was, where the only penalty for losing was laughter.
* * *
In a simple sense, our clinging to things material ought to provoke laughter. Our reliance on our possessions is never the ultimate answer. There is irony, even humor, in the Gospel story about the man who built a bigger barn to store his possessions, then died before he could enjoy them.
At this time of our liturgical year, my thoughts quickly jump to the resurrection — sometimes considered to be the ultimate trick God played on the devil. And I can’t help but think that the one answer to all of our questions is this: Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.
Why should our tears and fears be replaced with joy? Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.
What gives us the courage to confess and the surety that our sins can be forgiven? Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.
What gives us the encouragement to acknowledge the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the dawn of the new and improved relationship with our God? Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.
What is the ultimate victory that gives us not the sense of loss but rather the laughter of redemption? Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.
What is the most extraordinary event that happened in human history, the one that demands to be proclaimed? Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.
* * *
We know that Jesus wept. He laughed, too.
Joy and laughter are meant to be shared, not kept silent within us.
Our joy should spread like fire through the darkness that keeps others in confinement — the blind and the lame, the poor and the imprisoned, and all who await the proclamation of the good news. It has to come from us. It is our turn to make a difference.
* * *
One last thought. What did the women find in the Lord’s tomb today? It was empty!
Comments are welcome at office@cfm.org or the Christian Family Movement, P.O. Box 925, Evansvsille, IN 47706-0925