And Don’t Forget Your Sweatshirt!

“And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.“ – Genesis 3:21

A mother makes a cake for a special occasion and she tells her two kids, “That cake is not for you. It’s for the church supper tonight. So do not touch it!”

All day long, the kids walk in and out the kitchen, looking at that beautiful cake, with its creamy frosting, pulling them in, like a magnet. They sniff it, breathing in the smell of vanilla and chocolate, imagining how it might melt on their tongues.

Why not just dip a tiny finger into the frosting for a little taste? One kid does it.

When his  sister sees his finger print, she thinks she may as well dip her finger in too. After that, a little of the cake shows through.

Her brother suggests they may as well have a little forkful, and try to patch up the damage later. But once they take a forkful, they have to have another. And then their mother walks in.

“I can’t believe you ate the cake,” she yells. “I gave you one thing to do. One thing!”  Furious, she kicks them out of the kitchen.

The kids then tear out of the house fast, running away from their mother’s wrath, but laughing through their cake encrusted faces. 

And as angry as the mother is at her kids, she can’t help herself. As the children run outside into the cold, crisp air, she follows them, calling after them as they run down the sidewalk, “And don’t forget your sweatshirts, it’s cold out there!”

Prayer

Thank you, God, for clothing Adam and Eve on their way out of paradise. As mad as we may make you, God, we know you still worry about us, love us and want us to wear our sweatshirts. Amen. 

About the Author
Lillian Daniel is the Senior Minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ, Dubuque, Iowa, and the author of When “Spiritual But Not Religious” is Not Enough.