Watch out for the she bears

Brenda Cannon HenleyBy Brenda Cannon Henley
Something transpired this week that caused me to remember an old Bible story that I taught my class some years ago. I remembered that at the time I taught the Scripture verses, not one student in the class stated that they had heard the lesson in the past. Or, if they had, it did not impress them sufficiently enough for them to commit it to memory. On the other hand, it impressed me then and it impresses me now.

The main thrust of the teaching is that it is never wise, or nice, to make fun of people for many reasons. One never knows what someone else is going through at the moment, nor do we know how they arrived at the exact set of circumstances in which they find themselves. It is also beneficial for each of us to stop and think how we would want to be treated if the roles were reversed.

Without using any helpful references, do you have any idea of what 2 Kings 2 teaches? Or, can you call to memory the main character in this passage of Scripture? Once we learn the pertinent facts, this just might be a really good Bible lesson for you to sit down and share with your family for many reasons.

Three very nice young ladies, all of whom work in the medical field, were having a quite public conversation about elderly patients with which they came into contact in their line of work. They made several grievous errors to my way of thinking. I was taught that one never discusses patients, clients, people one meets in their line of work, and certainly would never lump a large group of them all into one category. I learned the hard way not to paint any group of people with the broad stroke of any one brush.

The conversation went something like this: “Boy, I really hate to try to get the original medical history of our old people. It takes forever,” said the first young lady. The second immediately agreed. “Oh, yeah, you’re so right.They will not stay on topic. I don’t need to know about their support cat, how many appointments they have with other doctors, or how their next door neighbor’s sister’s aunt recommended them to our practice.” Hearty laughter rang out from the group.

The third young lady whom I love, by the way, chimed in and added, “I would hate to take my own mom and dad’s history. It would be so long and there’s no telling what I would hear.” She added, “I cannot imagine how thick the file would be.”

Several more jokes were added and much laughter was shared. I thought to myself, “My medical history is not long and nurses often get aggravated with me because I only have two prescriptions to report upon registering. Iknow I am the exception, and not the rule for my age.” I do see others come into the waiting room with plastic tote bags filled with prescription bottles, so I do understand this quandary.

I immediately thought of at least 42 young people that learned the lesson of making fun of others the hard way. It is recounted about Elisha in 2 Kings 2:23-24. “And he (Elisha) went up from thence unto Bethel; and as he was going up by the way young men (history indicates they were at least teens) out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, ‘Go thou up, Bald Head, go up thou Bald Head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and called for judgment (some versions use the word cursed here) upon them in the name of the Lord. And they came forth two she bears out of the woodand ate forty and two of them.”

Pretty harsh. Pretty fast. Pretty irreparable. Difficult way to learn a life lesson. But we can clearly see God does not like humans being unkind to other human beings. Perhaps we should teach this truth to our young people and to our older ones as well. Be kind to others. Don’t make judgment calls when it is not necessary or your place to do so.

Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at (409) 781-8788, or
[email protected]

[Feb-8-2021]

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One Response to “Watch out for the she bears”

  1. Patty says:

    AMEN!!! GETTING OLD IS NOT FOR WIMPS!!

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