The Sons of Isaac in my Bathroom
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite Sunday School stories was the one of Jacob and Esau. There were so many freakishly facinating things about that story that I just couldn't resist. A woman pregnant with twins who fought with one another inside her, the babies born with one riding into the world while holding onto his brother's heel, the prospect of two nations being born at the birth of these two babies, and the fate of the world resting on the sale of the patriarchal birthright for a bowl of red lentil soup--the whole thing.
But one of the funniest things to a little girl would probably be the concept that these twins were very different, and the biggest difference was that Jacob was "smooth" and Esau was "hairy"....
The concept of hairiness in men was hilarious to we little girls in our crinolines and patent leather shoes.
So poor old Isaac, the father of these two, decides that he is old and that it's time to give the blessing to one of his sons. He sends his eldest twin son, Esau, into the field to fetch him some meat, and tells him to prepare a feast for him, so that he can be full and merry when he bequeaths his son with what is rightfully his. But mother Rebekkah overhears this, and plots to gain for her favored son the blessing that she wants for him. So she sends Jacob to kill two goats, so that she may make the feast, and tells him that he is to present his father with the meal, and to tell his blind father that he is his older brother. Jacob reasonably points out to his mother that he cannot pull off the deception, because his father would immediately know that he wasn't Esau, because Esau was hairy while he was smooth. Rebekkah, of course, has this argument beat, because she puts the skins of the goats on his neck and arms, so that when poor blind Isaac checks the hirsuitness of the son who is feeding him, then he will be deceived.
And he was.
"The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
Thus the blessing passed to Jacob, and he went on his way to become the patriarch of the twelve tribes of Israel, through the birth of his own twelve sons, while Esau became father to the sons of Edom, who struggle with the sons of Jacob to this very day.
So what does this have to do with my bathroom?
In the mornings, while it is still dark, the cats come in to visit me while I am in the potty. And my hands, in the dark, can tell the difference between my little "Jacob and Esau", because one is smooth, and the other is hairy.
Being a bit more clever than Isaac, however, I refuse to give my blessing to either until the lights are on and I know for certain who is who...
....
It never ceases to amaze me how often and in what strange ways those Sunday School stories come back to me....
But one of the funniest things to a little girl would probably be the concept that these twins were very different, and the biggest difference was that Jacob was "smooth" and Esau was "hairy"....
The concept of hairiness in men was hilarious to we little girls in our crinolines and patent leather shoes.
So poor old Isaac, the father of these two, decides that he is old and that it's time to give the blessing to one of his sons. He sends his eldest twin son, Esau, into the field to fetch him some meat, and tells him to prepare a feast for him, so that he can be full and merry when he bequeaths his son with what is rightfully his. But mother Rebekkah overhears this, and plots to gain for her favored son the blessing that she wants for him. So she sends Jacob to kill two goats, so that she may make the feast, and tells him that he is to present his father with the meal, and to tell his blind father that he is his older brother. Jacob reasonably points out to his mother that he cannot pull off the deception, because his father would immediately know that he wasn't Esau, because Esau was hairy while he was smooth. Rebekkah, of course, has this argument beat, because she puts the skins of the goats on his neck and arms, so that when poor blind Isaac checks the hirsuitness of the son who is feeding him, then he will be deceived.
And he was.
"The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
Thus the blessing passed to Jacob, and he went on his way to become the patriarch of the twelve tribes of Israel, through the birth of his own twelve sons, while Esau became father to the sons of Edom, who struggle with the sons of Jacob to this very day.
So what does this have to do with my bathroom?
In the mornings, while it is still dark, the cats come in to visit me while I am in the potty. And my hands, in the dark, can tell the difference between my little "Jacob and Esau", because one is smooth, and the other is hairy.
Being a bit more clever than Isaac, however, I refuse to give my blessing to either until the lights are on and I know for certain who is who...
....
It never ceases to amaze me how often and in what strange ways those Sunday School stories come back to me....