I want to begin with a short story which is quite appropriate given that
we are celebrating Thanksgiving. It is entitled the Story of the Little
Red Hen:
Once upon a time there
was a little red hen who lived on a farm.
Early one morning she
woke up and went outside. There she found some corn.
“Who will help me
plant the corn?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said the
bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help me
water the corn?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said
the bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help
me cut the corn?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said
the bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help
me carry the corn to the mill?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said
the bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help
me grind the corn?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said
the bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help me
knead the bread?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said
the bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help me bake
the bread?” said the little red hen.
“Not I,” said
the bull.
“Not I,” said
the cat.
“Not I,” said
the rat.
“Oh very well,
I’ll do it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
“Who will help me eat
the bread?” said the little red hen.
“I will,” said
the bull.
“I will,” said
the cat.
“I will,” said
the rat.
“Oh no you
won’t. I’ll eat it myself,” said the little red hen – and so she did!
The end
This certainly is a Harvest Thanksgiving story - the crop is planted,
cared for, harvested and a feast is produced and eaten. There certainly
is a morel to the story. What comes to mind might be the saying, we will
reap what we sow; or if we want a bountiful result in what we desire, we will
have to plan things our and follow that plan and follow each step which is
required to actually have the desired result. If you don’t plant the
seeds and care for the plants and harvest the crop and do everything else, we
won’t have the bread to eat at the end.
So, it is a nice little story with a lesson for us all. But what
makes this a story that we should consider as Christians? I would like to
look at this story in a couple of ways that Christians have used since the
earliest times to consider how stories in the bible and other important works
and see how they can be applied to Christians.
Now, it may come as a surprize, but Christians from the early Church
fathers onward did not just understand biblical stories literally.
However, there are a number of different ways that people approached
scripture to understand it. They did understand it literally i.e. as
written. However, two other ways were allegorically and
analogically. Don’t be put off by the technical terms.
They can be explained fairly easily. An allegory is not
about the former Vice-president of the United States, Al Gore. Allegories
are stories that taught a lesson in which the characters in the stories
represented specific values or characteristics. Many of Jesus’ parables
were allegories. Pilgrim’s Progress had characters with names such as
Christian, Pliable, Abstinent or Worldly Wiseman – the name summed up the
character and what he or she represented.
Anagogical is just a fancy way of saying spiritually. We look at
the spiritual meaning in the story. Allegorically and analogically are
categories that theologians have used, as I mentioned since the early day of
the Christian Church. Given that, let’s consider the story of the Little
Red Hen from these two perspectives.
Okay then, let’s look at the story of Little Red Hen
allegorically. What do the characters represent? Well, we have a
small cast of characters – the little red hen, the bull, the cat and the
rat. Let’s look at the three supporting characters. Do you know
someone who is bull headed? You aren’t going to change his mind are
you. So, he is someone who believes he is right and that’s all there
is.
How about the cat? Well, anyone who has a cat or I should say, is owned
by a cat knows who is in charge –it is the cat and the cat knows it. No
one is going to tell them what to do. Know anyone like that?
Then there is the rat. A rat is not nice – rats are devious,
dangerous, and can’t be trusted. I hope you don’t have many rats in your
life. Not a very good bunch to have around.
What about the Little Red Hen – let’s call her LRH. LRH is the
hero of the story. She knows what she has to do and does it regardless of
the actions or inactions of those around her. LRH does everything
required to get the results she has planned. And in the end, she gets her
reward the bread and enjoys it probably with the butter and jam of self-righteousness.
So, what lesson can we take from this allegory? There are many
possibilities. Hard work pays off – work hard and you will be rewarded;
live by the rules and all will be well; LRH got the bread and those who didn’t
do the work didn’t share in the reward. All seems to be well and just.
But what about looking at it from a Christian perspective. We know
that salvation doesn’t come from good works. Is LRH getting her reward in
the final outcome? She seems to but can we be sure? Perhaps what is
needed is Christian charity. Perhaps LRH could have done the Christian
thing and forgiven the three reprobates. How do you think they might have
responded? Hopefully they would have helped out the next time rather than
going away feeling resentful – which I am sure would have been the result given
the character of those three. They will be resentful and want revenge on
LRH. Love – the love of Christ is the answer to the division which is in
the world.
All right, let's look at the story allegorically – spiritually.
Let’s look at the story as if all the characters are part of each of us.
We have the hard working LRH who wants to do the right thing to have a good
relationship with God. She is the solid foundation of a good personality.
We each have part of us that wants that – to be a good person and do
what is right, although sometimes that part can be buried far down in our
souls. There is the part of us that are bull headed – don’t want to
change our way of being in the world – I’m all right just the way I am.
We have that inner cat, the self-centered part that wants to be in
control and won’t give up that control easily and fights any attempt to give
control where it belonged - to God. It wants God to do what we want and not
what God wants for us.
And finally, we have the rat within us – probably the part we want
to acknowledge the least. It is sneaky and will sabotage any attempt to
listen to God and hear what God is saying to us – to hear God calling us back
home to God. There is that voice - sometimes quiet and often very loud
that says - I’m alright as I am - don’t do that, it's too difficult, take the
easy way, it’s too scary to change – to give up the old familiar ways.
LRH is the best part of each of us. She will show us the way to
follow the road to God but she will have to learn she can’t do it by
herself. She needs to have faith that she doesn’t have to do it alone –
indeed she can’t. Salvation is possible through love – the love of
Christ.
Blessings on your journey this Thanksgiving.
