Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Peacemakers (08/15/24)
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TITLE: Matthew’s Mother, a Monologue | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laurie Kiel
08/22/24 -
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Cook, housekeeper, and...peacemaker. That was my job description ever since my son Matthew became a teenager. My husband Alphaeus and Matthew were always butting heads. But I think that Matthew dreamed of making his father proud.
I remember when he came to tell his father the news, "Papa, I've made it! I've become a tax collector! You and Mama will never need to worry about money again!“
I groaned as those words came out of Matthew's mouth. I braced myself for the eruption I knew was coming. Such a clash! Such a crash of disappointment for Matthew. My husband threw Matthew out of the house and told me we no longer had a son.
A good Jewish boy becoming a tax collector? What was Matthew thinking? I kept trying to make peace between Matthew and my husband but it was to no avail.
" Alphaeus, don't you think you should talk to Ma—”
and before I could get the second syllable out of my mouth, Alphaeus roared,
"Do not utter the name of that traitor in this house!"
Another time I said,
" Alphaeus, I miss our son, can't you—
"We have no son. The subject is closed."
And so the only peacemaking left to me was in my prayers. Jehovah had parted the Red Sea, couldn't He bring these two together?
I would always stop by my son's tax collector's booth to quickly tell him I loved him. I had to be quick, for I didn't want Alphaeus to spot me speaking with Matthew. After all, he hadn't specifically told me I couldn't stop by the booth. At least not yet.
But one day, I stopped by the booth and it was empty. "Where's Matthew?" I asked one of his friends.
"You'll never believe it!” he told me, "At least none of us can believe it. That traveling rabbi stopped by Matthew's booth, said ‘follow me!‘And Matthew did! Can you imagine? Giving up all that money."
And he walked off shaking his head.
My son, the follower of a rabbi? And then I heard the rumors, Matthew was not just the follower of a rabbi, but of the Messiah.
I had heard of Jesus' miracles, healing the leper, making water out of wine, even calming the sea. Could Jesus calm the tempestuous sea that separated the two most important men in my life?
That would take a perfect peacemaker.
That would take an act of God.
That would take an act of the Son of God.
And then it happened.
Jesus made peace between Matthew and my husband.
Jesus made peace inside of Matthew. My son had never been at peace before he met Jesus.
Jesus made peace inside of me. I had had no peace since my peacemaking failed and my family fractured. Jesus brought me peace.
Jesus the perfect peacemaker.
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Jehovah had parted the Red Sea, couldn't He bring these two together?
Blessings