When Rosemary was three years old, she was given a rag doll as a gift. It became her inseparable companion. Over time, the doll became more and more ragged and less and less doll. There was no use trying to clean it; washing would only make it more ragged. The sensible thing would have been to trash the doll and buy a new one. Not on your life! If you loved Rosemary, you loved her rag doll. It was part of the package. Rosemary’s father, Ian Pitt-Watson (1921-1995) was a theology professor at a Scottish seminary who accepted a similar position at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena in 1980. On the day the family relocated from Scotland to California, Rosemary and her sister were permitted to take one item on the plane with them. There was no debate about what Rosemary would take. The rag doll would be her traveling buddy. Somehow, during the trip, the doll became lost. Rosemary went into full panic mode and the family was in crisis until the rag doll was found.
Most every family has an equivalent rag doll story. When our son was young, he became attached to “B,” his green and white checked blanket. For our daughter, it was “special baby.” Although the baby’s arm became dislocated in the socket, it didn’t matter. This baby was still special.
Ian told his daughter’s rag doll story to introduce his sermon on “Knowing and Loving God.” Its subtitle, “God’s love creates value in us,” expresses his main idea. Some things in life have intrinsic value while other things have value simply because they are loved. He said, “Some things are loved because they are worthy; some things are worthy because they are loved.” C. S. Lewis wrote something similar, “God loves us, not because we are loveable, but because God is love.” Ian in his sermon quoted from Hosea when God asked his rebellious people, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?” (Hosea 11.8). To Ian’s way of thinking, we are God’s rag dolls.
Ian was also an accomplished musician and hymn writer. His hymn, “You are Before Me, Lord, You are Behind” is an adaptation of Psalm 139 and sung to the powerful tune of the Highland Cathedral. And so, we pray: