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Patrick

Patrick Rufener


Last Updated: 11/19/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Sign: Virgo

State: Ohio
Country: US
Signup Date: 3/10/2006
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 
I thought of the last story we have
from the life of the prophet Elisha. Jehoash was king of Israel at the
time, and he went to visit Elisha on his sickbed. He knew that without
the help of this great prophet, the future of Israel was looking dim.
Enemies were closing in on every side, waiting for the kill. Elisha
told the king to take in hand some arrows.



And the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck
it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said,
“You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would
have
defeated [your enemies] completely . . . But now you will defeat [them]
only three times.” Elisha died and was buried. (2 Kings 13:18–20)



That’s it? What a strange story! Why was the old prophet so angry?
Because the king was nonchalant; he was passionless, indifferent. He
gave the ground a whack or two. His heart wasn’t in it. God says, in
effect, “If that is how little you care about the future of your
people, that is all the help you will get.” In other words, if your
heart’s not in it, well then, neither is mine. You can’t lead a
country, let alone
flourish in a marriage, with an attitude like that. To abandon desire
is to say, “I don’t really need you; I don’t really want you. But I
will live with you because, well, I’m supposed to.” It is a grotesque
corruption of what was meant to be a beautiful dance between desire and
devotion. ~ Desire

4:00 PM
 
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