Wash The Dishes

The Little Red Hen found a grain of wheat and asked for help from the other farmyard animals (pig, cat, and frog) to plant it, but none volunteered.  When harvesting, threshing, milling the wheat into flour, and then baking the flour into bread, the hen again asked for help, but again she got no assistance. 

At long last, the hen asked would help her eat the bread.   Now, all eagerly volunteered.  She turned them away reminding them that no one came to her aid when she did all the preparation. The hen ate the bread with her chicks leaving none for anyone else.

Does this story sound familiar?   It’s a well-known children’s story.  It sounds a lot like today’s  Gospel story according to Luke who said: “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.  When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’  But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.”

The little red hen should remind us that Thanksgiving is on the way.  Who prepares the dinner with all the fixin’s?  It’s likely that person is our mother, and for us men, our wives.  Football games call us men to the TV or to the nearby football fields.  Unlike the hen, our mothers and wives lovingly open their arms and say: “Come to the table, your dinner is ready.  Let’s all eat!”  No one is turned away.

Then, when it’s over most retreat back to the TV or depart leaving behind the wicked clean-up for the one(s) who did all the work.  One by one we all excuse ourselves from the messy work.

Before any of us uses excuses this Thanksgiving Day, let’s reflect on today’s Gospel reading with Jesus speaking to us at the table.  Imagine him saying to us: “Your little red hens did all the work, and yet, they welcomed you to the table.  Wash the dishes!”

Deacon David Pierce