What Should I Ask For?
AM Psalm 119:97-120 • PM Psalm 81, 82
Gen. 45:16-28 • 1 Cor. 8:1-13 • Mark 6:13-29
The reading from Mark today gives us the death of John the Baptist.
John dies because of a dance. A girl dances and her father, the king, is so pleased that he grants her a wish. She doesn’t know what to wish for but her mother does. She wishes for a prophet’s head on a platter. Daddy makes the wish a reality and John is released from the prison of this old world and his head is given to the girl.
I know that tradition and history tell us the name of the girl is Salome. Some would have us believe she was a tramp; a seductive, naughty temptress. But when I read Mark it’s easy to see how the girl could have been just a little girl. This dance of hers might’ve been adorable rather than lascivious. Perhaps it was a children’s performance put on for the amusement of the adults in the room. That happens all the time. It might have been very innocent.
The end result was certainly evil.
That’s kind of how wishes work. The whole Monkey’s Paw factor: wish gets granted but bad things happen. Good thing prayers aren’t like that.
But don’t we approach God like he’s Herod sometimes? Again, not like we’re doing something unsavory or distasteful for God, (—who would do that?) but if the girl in the story is just a little girl doing something nice for her dad...I can see myself in that.
“Look what I did, God! Did you like that?”
Don’t I expect that if God is pleased with me, He’ll do something nice for me? God may even grant me a wish.
What should I ask for?
I better not ask my mother.
Written by Troy Schremmer
Troy works with preschool age children as an enrichment teacher in music and movement. He and his wife Jonny are both Theatre Directors for the NWA Prison Story Project. They have a fifteen-year-old son and a seven-year-old dog.