“But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will you give me,

for I continue childless?”

–Genesis 15:2a

One day a few years ago, Lori and I were riding the PATH train from Manhattan to New Jersey.  One stop before our exit a young woman seated on the opposite side of the car stood up and walked toward the door to my right.  I had noticed she had looked in our direction a couple of times, but thought nothing of it.  Now with pen in hand, she leaned over where I was seated and wrote something on the wall just above my head. “I’m sorry,” she said to me. ‘I just had to do that.”

I looked up and saw a sheet of paper with a depiction of then-Governor Christie and the words “Less Teachers, More Bacon!” (photo shown above) I’m guessing it was referencing some debate going on in the Garden State at the time about budget priorities.  Whatever the particular issue, the woman had crossed out the word “less” and replaced it with the word “fewer” so that it now read “Fewer Teachers, More Bacon!”  “Are you an English teacher?” I asked just as the door opened.  Before stepping off, she replied “An editor!”

All of us have things that are central to our lives.  For that train companion, proper grammar was a clear priority, at least in that moment. For her and the rest of us, the primary concern may be one’s spouse or children, work or alma mater, exercise or the latest technology.  Your answer in a particular moment might be something else. None of us has a lone priority and instead can find that things most important to us will compete with the other.  Yet for all of us there are moments when the central piece becomes clear.       

Such was the case for a man named Abram long ago. Three chapters before the verse shown above, God had told that childless 75 year old man a great nation would be made of him.  In response, Abram and his 65 year old spouse Sarai and had set out on a journey, leaving their home for for a territory they had never seen. All kinds of events follow including a moment Abram and 318 men drive out invading kings. 

Soon thereafter, God appears to Abram in a vision and declares “Do not be afraid, I am your shield, your reward shall be very great.”  In response, the man says “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless.”  He adds “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.  

For Abram, the central thing in that moment was that he still had no child. Scripture doesn’t tell us how much time had passed between the first divine visit and this one, but the man is getting no younger. In response, the Divine One takes him outside and encourages Abram to attempt counting the stars. “So shall your descendants be,” God adds. Abram believes the promise once again, the journey continues, and eventually he becomes our ancestor in the faith.

All of us have times when there are concerns that stand at the foreground of every waking thought.  Perhaps for you, the central thing is a concern that you will never have a child either or that a job which fully uses your skills will never arise.  Perhaps for you the central thing is a fervent hope for renewed health or strength for a loved one entering her final days, getting finances in order for retirement or preparing for that hard conversation with a friend. We all have things that jump to a primary place in our lives as did Abram when to God he in essence says “What about the child?”

I’m grateful for the frustration expressed by that man long ago and for the way that ultimately he did not give up on God. I pray for the same in you.

Wise and Faithful Guide, it can be so difficult to wait. Help us to learn if our main longing is what you desire for us. In either case, may we stay with you. Amen.