It was A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins.
I knew the author's name and I knew I had no business reading a book by him, but I did it anyway. I later learned that this was one of, if not the, best of Robbins' novels. A Stone for Danny Fisher is so well written, you can still buy it. It has some sex in it; fairly mild by today's standards. And some violence, too. But, as I learned all those years ago, there are far better reasons to read an adult book.
The story is of a Jewish boy whose later teen years coincide with the Great Depression of the 1930's. The one skill he can use to bring in some money to help his family is that he is an excellent boxer. While pursuing elevation and increasing rewards in the ring, he meets and interacts with all sorts of interesting folk, including a beautiful Catholic girl with whom he falls in love. Eventually, his boxing prowess brings him to the attention of organized crime. I'll let your imagination take over for the rest of it. Suffice to say, Danny Fisher had many troubles in his life. The end of the book could well make you cry.
What I will say about the novel is this: I've read it three times ---once, aloud to my infant daughter as she slept in my arms (Sorry, Hon)--- and each time, I've found depths I somehow missed on the earlier readings. I'm thinking of reading it again, soon.
The one mystery that eluded me for years was the meaning of the title. There is nothing in the novel about stones. No one gave one to Danny. Then one day, I read Luke 11 and saw: “What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?" (Luke 11:11-12 AMP). Suddenly, I got it: Robbins thought someone, likely God, had given Danny a raw deal, a "stone" of a life rather than one filled with good. It all fit.
But that was not the end of the Bible passage. The balance of the verse said: "If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!” (Luke 11:13 AMP, http://bible.com/8/luk.11.11-13.amp)
You see, that passage is part of a longer section where Jesus answers his disciples' request to teach them to pray. In answering them, Jesus made exactly the opposite argument as Robbins. He tells them that God loves them and will meet their needs. This is the ask-seek-knock section; the Lord's Prayer section. We tend to slice this section into separate parts, but Luke delivers them all together so we can understand the real point.
Our lives are not about what we want or need. Sure, those things are important, even necessary in many cases. But at the heart of it, we need to understand that we have a loving Father who desires good for us; a Father who, in his answers to our prayers, far surpasses both the eventual responsiveness of a pestered neighbor and the loving intent of an earthly father.
We face the same challenges as those early disciples, though, in understanding prayer. Yes, we ask for our daily bread when we pray, as we should. God is the giver of good gifts. If only we can also grasp the greater values to be had in prayer; our affirmation of God's sovereignty, the relationship between forgiveness we extend to those who need it and the forgiveness God extends to us, the guidance away from temptation and unnecessary trial, rescue from evil. And crowning all of it: the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Maybe Danny Fisher did receive a stone instead of bread, but I reject that it came from God. Tough times come to every one. We believers, though having just such tough times, measure our lives by our relationship with God, not by our circumstances.
We get the bread, every time.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 12 (17) (July 24, 2016)
First reading and Psalm
Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138
Second reading
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Gospel
Luke 11:1-13
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I hope you can join us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast. We still gather at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant at 8:00 for a very nourishing hour of scripture and fellowship. The bread's good, too.
Blessings,
Steve
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