The High Cost of Disobedience—the Legend of the Three Sisters

               

   On the last official day of our Australian tour, Al and I took an optional excursion to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney.  Their name comes from the rays of sunlight being filtered through droplets of oil in the air from dense forests of eucalyptus trees which cast a bluish hue on the mountains.

   From an overlook, we were able to see the lush canyons below, more mountain ranges in the distance and three nearby prominent rock formations known as the “Three Sisters.” Our guide explained the Aboriginal legend relating to the Three Sisters Rock formation, in which three brothers fell in love with the daughters of a leader in their village.

   Tribal law dictated that young men had to find wives from another village; so the father forbade his daughters to marry them. However, their suitors decided to break the tribal law and marry them anyway, causing a fierce battle.  The father, who had magical powers, changed all three girls into stone so that they wouldn’t be harmed or kidnapped. He died during the battle and the suitors fled for their lives. No one knew how to rescue the sisters from their stony state…and so they remain today, staring sullenly from vacant eyes out over the valley below.

     In spite of all of the busloads of people, it was a peaceful Sunday morning, with an oriental sounding melody coming from something resembling a big covered metal wok. We walked over to the stone bench where a young musician was sitting, holding the instrument on his lap. He used his palms and fingers to tap it in a manner similar to playing the bongo drums. The resulting sounds were rhythmic but also melodious. I stood rooted to the spot listening, while Al took a video of the musician and patiently waited.

    As we were getting ready to board the bus for our next stop—the Featherdale Wildlife Park (more about that next week)—I asked another fellow who was tuning up his guitar what the unusual instrument was called. “Oh, that’s a Hang drum,” he explained, saying that although it was spelled “hang” it was pronounced “hong.” The “Hang” music seemed to carry in it the mournful voices of the three sisters, making that legend seem even more poignant.

     Obedience is highly valued and is of essence to the survival of every community. This includes obedience to the laws of the land and following cultural standards, as well as within families, where children are expected to adhere to the boundaries set by their parents. Disobedience can bring drastic consequences; and yet, we all disobey in one way or another throughout our lives.  

      Jesus Christ humbled himself and became obedient to God’s will by dying in our place, so that the disobedient acts of all people would be forgiven. His obedience resulted in our salvation. May Jesus’ great outpouring of love stir our hearts to obey His teachings and follow Him. No one has ever loved us more!

   

   “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8 NIV