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February 24th 2010
Last week I wrote about a couple of ancient rhymes that had deeper meaning than most people recognize. Both Humpty Dumpty and Jack & Jill are rooted in the Bible story of the creation and fall of Adam and Eve.
Another familiar one is “Rock-a-bye-baby”. You’ve probably wondered why the baby’s parents put her in the tree tops, but once we understand that the child in the tree-top represents the children of fallen parents being placed in a dangerous place, the riddle unfolds.
Humpty Dumpty was Adam, who failed to walk on the right road and willfully wandered into an unhealthy place. Jack and Jill portrayed how the husband’s decision to go where he shouldn’t have gone, affected his wife. The baby in the tree-top is a picture of the family who are negatively and precariously put in danger because of dad’s and mom’s bad decisions.
“When the wind blows” is a metaphor for the opposition that life brings. And “when the bough breaks and baby falls”, the tragedy that mom and dad experienced, affects the children. On it goes – dysfunction and brokenness are passed on through family genes.
The nursery rhymes are vivid reminders of where we’ve all come from. They end tragically and give us no hope. In contrast, Charles Perrault’s 17th century fables bring resolution to the failure of our parents, and give us hope!
Consider his story of the Three Little Pigs. Each of the pigs is a picture of the choices we can make about how we construct our lives. Pig number one likes to party more then to carry the weight of responsibility. He quickly throws together some straw and builds his house. Building his house of straw is like we who don’t spend much time preparing the foundation and substance to our lives. “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” is the song that piggy number one sings.
Pig number two waffles. He wants to do better than his wild brother, but is still lazy when it comes to building a solid life on firm footing. He builds his house from sticks. It takes a bit longer than his brother’s straw home, but he still has time to play.
The big bad wolf is a characterization of opposition (like the wind that blew the baby in the tree-top). Opposition tests us. It proves what our houses are built from. The big bad wolf huffs and puffs and is able to blow the house (the life) of the first two pigs to smithereens. The distraught little pigs run to the brick home of their big brother. Earlier they’d mocked him for spending so much time and effort building a home of bricks on a solid foundation. Now they were protected by the one whom they’d criticized.
Safe inside the brick home, the three little pigs huddled, while the big bad wolf huffed and puffed, and tried to topple what the wise pig had built.
It’s hard work building a solid life, marriage and family. It takes time and effort, but ultimately trouble will harangue us and try to destroy us. Those of us who’ve opted to build solid spiritual, emotional and mental footings for ourselves and family will ultimately stand and defeat any opposition that attacks us. Start today, one brick at a time, building your life on an unshakable foundation.
- Barry Buzza
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