Godly Shoulders

I recently read a neat little parable that is told by Jewish poet and storyteller Noah ben Shea:

After dinner, the children turned to Jacob and asked if he would tell them a story. ‘A story about what?’ asked Jacob.
‘About a giant,’ squealed the children.
Jacob smiled, leaned against the warm stones at the side of the fireplace, and his voice turned softly inward.
‘Once there was a boy who asked his father to take him to see the great parade that passed through the village. The father, remembering the parade from when he was a boy, quickly agreed, and the next morning the boy and his father set out together.
‘As they approached the parade route, people started to push in from all sides, and the crowd grew thick. When the people along the way became almost a wall; the father lifted his son and placed him on his shoulders.
‘Soon the parade began and as it passed, the boy kept telling his father how wonderful it was and how spectacular were the colors and images. The boy, in fact, grew so prideful of what he saw that he mocked those who saw less, saying, even to his father, ‘If only you could see what I see.’
‘But,’ said Jacob staring straight in the faces of the children, ‘what the boy did not look at was why he could see. What the boy forgot was that once his father, too, could see.’
Then, as if he had finished the story, Jacob stopped speaking.
‘Is that is?’ asked a disappointed girl. ‘We thought you were going to tell us a story about a giant.’
‘But I did,’ said Jacob. ‘I told you a story about a boy who could have been a giant.’
‘How?’ asked the children.
‘A giant,’ said Jacob, ‘is anyone who remembers we are all sitting on someone else’s shoulders.’
‘And what does it make us if we don’t remember?’ asked the boy.
‘A burden,’ answered Jacob.

This story got me thinking about all the people that have invested in me. God has given me the precious gift of Godly people who have entered my life and have been willing to invest time and energy into me. I think of my parents… my Mom’s listening ear and my Dad’s desire to share Christ with people. I think of my youth pastor, Craig Cooper, who prodded me to begin using my gifts… and who gave me the opportunity to serve along side him for two summers… allowing me to see what ministry would be like. I think of Coach Drury… who convinced me that I could have success as a preacher and who helped me not only understand the value of working hard… but also of working with excellence. I think of past and current friends, some of whom were placed in my life for as little as six months before our paths separated… people that God placed in my life to encourage, challenge, teach, support, or instruct me. I truly am a man that is sitting on someone else’s shoulders. Without their investment into my life, I would certainly not be a pastor and I probably wouldn’t even be a Christ follower.

May I always remember those who have invested in me. May I always seek to lift the people around me up onto my shoulders… investing in them in the same way that I have been invested in…