THE little Jewish boy sat with his mother inside their tent and both listened to the sounds of revelry and drunken laughter that floated in from the outside. Suddenly the tent door flew open and his father stood framed against it, his eyes red with drink and his clothes wet from dancing.
“Quick!” he shouted at the boy’s mother, “pass me your gold earrings, anklets and bracelets!” “Why?” asked his petrified wife, “have some enemies come upon us? Have the Egyptians found us?” “I have no time to explain,” said her husband, “if you don’t give them to me, I’ll tear them from your ears and hands.
Don’t blame me when you go out and women ask why your ears are torn and your hands bandaged!” The little boy walked up to his drunken father, “Why dad?” he asked, “why do you want what mother loves to wear?” “They build a golden calf outside,” said his father, “and we need all the gold to make it tall and beautiful!”
“Why do they build a calf?” asked the little fellow. “We need to have fun!” said his father. “Is fun, bowing to a calf built with human hands?” asked his wife. “Something tangible! Something real! Something we can see and worship!” shouted her husband. “Why dad?” asked the little boy as he walked close to his father, “why do we need an image when our God walks with us?”
“Can you see him?” asked the man bitterly, “he only appears to Moses and now that Moses has disappeared into the mountains to get some laws done, we need something to stay with us!” “Dad,” said the little boy, “Remember the waves?”
“What waves?” asked the father impatiently. “Those giant, majestic waves of the Red Sea, that stood still as we passed by. You know what I thought as I walked through. I thought they stood in salute to a God walking along with us!”
“Can we have such talk later,” said the father. “And dad!” “What?” “The manna which we collect every morning!” “What about it?” “Provided with no effort!” Give me the gold!” shouted his father. “You know why you want the golden calf dad?” asked the little boy, and suddenly there was silence in the tent, “Because you’ve enjoyed His blessings but never God himself!” “What do you mean?” asked the father.
“When I saw the Red Sea standing high and tall, I heard God whispering into my ears, ‘enjoy me as your Father! When I see the manna every morning, I hear Him say, ‘my son these are just blessings, enjoy me in your heart!” The father grabbed the jewelry his wife had removed and rushed out to the golden calf. The mother held her son and wept and the little boy sighed, “Mother if we would only take God in and not just His blessings, we’d never feel the need for golden calves..!”
