Walter Mischel was a psychologist working with children on the campus of Stamford University in the 1960’s. In one experiement, he told the children in the pre-school that they could have a single treat, such as a marshmallow, right now. However, if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand, they could have two marshmallows. Some pre-schoolers grabbed the marshmallow immediately, but others were able to wait what, for them, must have seemed an endless 20 minutes. To sustain themselves in their struggle, they covered their eyes so they wouldn’t see the temptation, rested their heads on their arms, talked to themselves, sang, even tried to sleep. These plucky kids got the two-marshmallow reward. The interesting part of this experiment came in the follow-up. The children who as 4-year-olds had been able to wait for the two marshmallows were, as adolescents, still able to delay gratification in pursuing their goals. They were more socially competent and self-assertive, and better able to cope with life’s frustrations. In contrast, the children who grabbed the one marshmallow were, as adolescents, more likely to be stubborn, indecisive, and stressed. Nature or nurture? It really doesn’t matter. Walter Mischel forgot to factor in one further dimension – the supernatural one. God can and does transform us supernaturally. That was one reason the Apostle Paul wrote this short letter to Titus.
I was on the London underground recently. A strange thing happened to me. It was very embarrassing. It was the first time it has ever happened in my life. It took me completely by surprise. I didn’t know how to handle it. I was standing by the door as I usually do when out of the blue, a young Asian man got up out of his seat and offered it to me. I thought he had made a mistake. I embarrassed him as much as myself by refusing to sit in his place. So we both stood and looked pretty silly. It had not occurred to me that I looked like an elderly man. I smiled and thanked him. I suppose my real mistake was not colouring my hair when the first grey hairs began to appear. Now it is too late. You would notice, and in any case I’ve been overruled at home.
Dear Bishop Christopher,
The story of Hosea and Gomer sounds like an episode right out of the Jerry Springer show. “The Vicar Who Married a Prostitute.” The sub-text could have been: “Clergyman’s wife cheats on him. Her children are fathered by three different men. Sold as a sex-slave, her long suffering husband buys her back.” With Gomer looking down at the floor in shame, Jerry asks “Why did you do it Hosea?” as the studio audience jeers. “I knew she would be unfaithful but God told me to marry her anyway, love her enough to let her go, buy her back, forgive her and show how much I love her.” If it happened today it would make the Sunday front pages, wouldn’t it? Hosea was a young preacher in the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom. He was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and Amos. He lived, as we are told in the first verse, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (kings of Judah), and during the reign of Jeroboam, the king of Israel. But where Hosea stands out is that instead of delivering his message verbally, he was to deliver it visibly, quite dramatically through his marriage, through his wife and even through the choice of names for his children.
“Last Monday I was again at Richmond and my subject was, ‘He has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor’ but whoever wants to preach the Gospel must first carry it in his own heart.”