Siblings

My parents had two children, a boy (me) and a girl, my sister. It was made clear to me at a young age that I was never to hit my sister because a) she is 2 years younger than me and b) she’s a girl.  Neither of those properties were going to change.  To be fair, my mom propensity for overlooking minor infractions of hitting was only slightly greater for my sister than for me but with siblings, those differences are noted.

Both of us learned that overt physical actions against the other one carried consequences if we got caught.  Let me give you an example.  My dad, the work-a-holic, on those times when he wasn’t sleeping, eating, working or working on his small farm/ranch, would usually be found in his recliner (of course, I was his remote if I was there) watching tv or napping.  Occasionally, he’d lay on the floor with his feet on another chair and sleep.  Anyway, around my 8th birthday, I got a football as a present.  My sister, intentionally or not, decided to throw my football to our dad while he was sleeping.  Not only didn’t he catch it, but it hit him in the head and woke him.  He yelled that he was going to burn that blankity-blank football.  That ticked me off.  I’m ashamed to say that I backed my sister against the wall and popped her one in the face.  Of course, she ran off crying and I got in trouble.

I determined to be more, how shall I put it, discrete in my actions toward my sister.  Fast forward a few years, the four of us were in a car driving to a Thanksgiving meal with family and my sister was sniping about the allocation of seat space in the back seat.  I was told to share and instead of defending my allocation, I called her a name that rhymes with the main character name from the Hobbit (you remember Bilbo Baggins, yes).  My sister squealed the name I had called her, to my mom.  Now, my mom, being the most innocent person I knew, replied that was nice.  My dad was doing everything he could to not laugh at the situation while my sister got more animated that a serious infraction had occurred.  Finally, she told my mom what the word meant but by this time the only response was “Oh Boy” in a very disappointing tone.

“If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.” - Ezekiel 18:5-9 ESV

“And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.’” - Matthew 20:8-16

I guess it is inevitable that siblings will fight growing up.  It seems that the true challenge is growing up and treating each other like you’d want to be treated.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 7:12