Get Up and Go
Soap begins by introducing a character, so we begin with Abraham. Try spotting incidents or experiences where you can identify with him.
Here is a man with a deep urge to get up and go. Out there was something to be grasped but it was not going to come to him. He had to go and get it. He has no idea what hazards he may encounter, no certainty that he will find what he is looking for, no reason to believe he will recognise it when he gets there, and no rational answer if his friends ask where, or why. Of his understanding of God we know nothing. All we can say with certainty is that it was very different from ours, but if pressed he would say, ‘God told me to’.
That may not be your experience. Or is it? Try reading it simply as a story of new beginnings, possibly relating it to of a moment in your life when for whatever reason you had to take a big decision, perhaps even begin all over again. What were your emotions?
Next, what else have you got in common with Abraham? His age seems not to have entered into the equation. His family (Sarah and Lot) apparently were not even consulted. Relations with Lot subsequently were not all sweetness and light and he might have thought that taking Lot with him could bring problems, but apparently not. It was simply one of those things he knew he had to do. Even more surprising, he sees the whole operation as an investment for his offsprings, which he hasn’t got, and seems unlikely to have.
Like many a soap, the story is crazy. It surely can’t run. Nobody lives like that. But they do, and the story has run for 4000 years. Why? Abraham did what he did because he felt strongly about something. He even held God responsible for it, and that is what gave him hope. Like one who came later, he knew that if he wanted to live he had to begin with a readiness to die and begin again.
If it is still not your experience, go back to the first question. What is your story? Where are you going, and why?
