Good Morning, Girlfriends!
I hope y’all are liking the new titles in the subject line! Settle in, Girls, today is lengthy! I want to talk to you today about Super Mario Brothers-Bowser’s Inside Story. For those of you who are not required to be well versed in the world of Nintendo DS games, this happens to be the latest installment of the Mario and Luigi saga. The short and long of the story is this: Mario and Luigi are brothers and they need to work their way through multiple worlds and in each world are several different levels in order to save a princess. At the end of each world is a castle. And at the very end of the game (world 8) is the Mac Daddy castle were the big, bad Bowser lives. It is around this castle today’s Thought centers. Ethan and Elliott had been working tirelessly to finish this game, beat Bowser and rescue the Princess from the final castle. They both can play the same game, but on a different “file”. It had taken my set of brothers weeks, maybe months to reach the final level. Elliott, who is six, managed to beat the game first. He was thrilled. So thrilled, that he went into his brother’s file and beat Bowser as a gift for Ethan. Can you imagine how well received this was? Screaming, gnashing of teething, and wailing…just for starters. A younger brother, taking the upper hand of an older brother, and not fully understanding his actions…my mind began to circle.
I want to introduce you Joseph. Now, Joseph had a slight run-in with his older brothers. When I say “slight”, I mean “major”…his brothers actually sold him into slavery because of a bad case of Sibling Rivalry. Throughout the course of time, Joseph traveled and did many things during his tenure as a slave. Through all of his life, even (especially) his difficulties, God’s Hand of protection was upon him. Eventually Joseph was redeemed from the life of a slave and put in charge over all of Egypt. For the full story, read Genesis chapters 37, 39-45. While Joseph was in charge of Egypt, there came a great famine in the land of his brothers. They were forced to go to the house of Pharaoh to get relief, and who do they see? The very same brother they sold into slavery years earlier. “Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph!…’ But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.” Genesis 45:3 “…And now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me here ahead of you.” Genesis 45:5 Can you believe that Joseph forgave them?! He had been sold when he was just 17, enslaved, put in prison, and who knows what else! But now, looking at his brothers after all these years he was overjoyed to see them and gave all the glory to God for placing him in that position. Forgiveness.
So what does that have to with my set of brothers? Well, you see, the background info on Joseph was that he was running his mouth about a dream he had, and his brothers didn’t take kindly to it. They didn’t like the prospect of serving the younger. So they got rid of the problem. Trouble was, it came back to haunt them. Elliott is younger than Ethan, and somehow managed to figure out a way beat an impossible level. Ethan didn’t take kindly to that. In Elliott’s defense, in his six year old mind, and in his six year old heart, he honestly thought he was doing his older brother a favor by beating the level for him. Only Ethan didn’t see it that way. The tears that rolled down Elliott’s round cherub cheeks told his brother (and me) that he was genuinely sorry. The forgiveness that took place between my boys that night was so powerful and moving, I’m choking back tears even as I type this. The forgiveness that was afforded to Joseph’s brothers was just as profound and just as moving. They didn’t deserve forgiveness yet it was given to them in spades.
Where does that leave us? How many times do we run our mouths? How many times do we act harshly or irrationally? Yet, each time our Brother, Jesus is there waiting to forgive us. Through the redeeming work of the Cross we are forgiven our rash and brash attitudes and accepted back into the fold. The brothers swallowed their pride and wept on their brother’s shoulder. Let go of past grievances, you are safe and secure in the future. Have a blessed week!
