Father, May I?

Tags

Character, Father, Humble, Polite

Ask God

Maybe I am getting too old. I remember playing this game. It taught me a lot. There is a game kids play called “Mother, May I.” The rules are simple. A group of kids stand facing one kid who is the “Mother.” The object of the game is to reach “Mother” by taking a certain number of steps, hops, jumps, etc. The first kid to reach “Mother” wins. One player plays the “mother”, “father” or “captain”. The other players are the “children” or “crewmembers”.

To begin the game, the mother or father stands at one end of a room and turns around facing away, while all the children line up at the other end. The children take turns asking “Mother/Father, may I ____?” and makes a movement suggestion. For example, one might ask, “Mother/Father, may I take five steps forward?” The mother/father either replies “Yes, you may” or “No, you may not do that, but you may _____ instead” and inserts his/her own suggestion. Now we used to suggest things like like “hop like a frog and whistle Dixie while taking 5 jumps backward”. And guess what, they had to. No debate.

The players usually move closer to the mother/father but are sometimes led farther away. Even if the mother/father makes an unfavorable suggestion, the child must still perform it. The first of the children to reach the location of the mother/father wins the game. That child then becomes the mother/father himself, the original mother/father becomes a child, and a new round begins.

The “catch” in the game is to remember to ask the question: “Mother, May I?” If you forget, you go all the way back to the beginning. Really, I get penalized for not being polite and not following the rules? Yes, that is the way it works.

Except, I think we may have lost our way in some ways.

GOD hasn’t forgotten though. May I be humble, not demand and always ask my Father. He is faithful. Father, may I?