David v. Goliath

My son Eli's current favorite Bible story is David vs. Goliath. For him it ranks right up there with a good Star Wars story. We normally read it from one of the illustrated children's Bibles, but recently I read the whole uncut story. Well, uncut may not be the best phrase, since David does, in the end cut off Goliath's head. That part isn't usually in the children's version. Sometimes another detail is left out: that David picked up five stones. I hope Eli will remember that there were five stones, and that he only had to sling one to knock down Goliath. Those little details may become important some day for him, even though the meaning behind them isn't that important, nor interesting to him right now.

Some day, he may learn about the history and composition of the Bible, and then recognize that there are five books of Moses, the Torah. Maybe he will make a connection to those five stones. Maybe it's not about rocks after-all, maybe it's about depending on a deeper, spiritual strength, like knowing Torah, turning to the ancient wisdom of Scripture, instead of might. That may lead him to wonder about Goliath, as I often do. Who is the Goliath I am facing in life? Or, more likely, what is the Goliath I am facing in life?

David was this young, insignificant shepherd who was only on the battle field to carry a message to his warrior brothers from home. When he arrived he found two armies at a stale-mate, and an impossible opponent. The armor, what David was supposed to wear to fight Goliath, was too big for him. The expected weapons were too heavy. He opted for his little sling shot that he had used to knock down the beasts of the field when they threatened his sheep. He became a victor and a hero. If we know the story, we have a taken a step in understanding it, but if we leave it there as history of a military encounter, or leave it lying there on the pages of the Bible, we may miss a deeper element of the story. What if, when we recount such a story, we allow the characters to come to life within us. Where is our battle field? It could be a difficult relationship, a literal, perceived, external-world bully, or a new job opportunity we are called to, but are afraid to accept. The story becomes real when we allow our imagination get inside and wander around the battle field, and see ourselves not only in David, but also in Goliath, and in David's frightened brothers. Then, our task may be to find those five stones. What is our scripture, what ancient wisdom will give us the ability to conquer the unconquerable? The gruesome beheading is our victory lap, a sure symbol that the Goliath has no power to block us anymore. There is no more threat by that particular Goliath in our lives.

Too often, instead of looking inward to find the battle, we project that battle to the outer world. Instead of dealing with an internal Goliath that is keeping our life in a stale mate, we seek an outer world Goliath to attack. These spiritual stories are about our spiritual lives. Someone may represent, to us, a Goliath, but please do not read this and fire a rock at someone's forehead. Sit down in a quiet space, and look inside to find the Goliath who is blocking you, and pick up the sacred wisdom that may help you advance.

As I read that story to Eli, knowing that he is a ways away from digging into the the deeper spiritual understanding, I realized that I will likely be one of his Goliaths; or at least the version of me that lives in his memory. Thank God won't have to literally throw a rock at me and cut my head off (I also like the Star Wars version, where Luke simply removes his father's mask to see him for who he really is.) At some point my son will have to conquer my presence in his life so he can go out on his own. Someday, he will have to turn from tending sheep to face the larger life he is called to live. Some day, in order to grow up, and advance to become who God has made him to become. He will have to face down my presence in his life on the internal battle field, and draw from the spiritual resources that he has been given (some from me) and conquer me in order to go forward. May his victory be has definite and celebrated as David's.