Strong Houses

An unclean animal teaches us how to be faithful

To be honest, I have not given The Three Little Pigs much thought since I was a little pig. Recently, reading an illustrated version of it with my daughter made me reconsider it. The meaning behind the words of the mother pig to her sons should be immediately obvious to most parents: “build strong houses and look out for the wolf.” All good parents want their children not only to reap the benefits of success, but also to do the types of things that bring about success. That is to say, we do not just want our children to be happy, we want them to be good.

So the little pigs go out and build their houses, but there is a noticeable difference in how they go about it. The first pig builds his house out of straw, which is a dubious notion at best. Come to think of it, I have some idea how they make wood or brick houses, but no idea whatsoever how to even try to make one out of straw. It seems more like diving inside a haystack and calling it home. The second pig builds his house out of sticks, which certainly seems better than straw, at least. The third little pig builds his house of bricks, which takes the most time and effort. One can tell that the story was invented in Europe, where they build houses of brick and stone, rather than America, where all the houses are wood. As an American, I hope that does not leave us vulnerable to the wolf.

Well, of course, the big bad wolf comes along—who ever lived a life without any trouble? Better to plan against it than to assume things will always be right with the world. He approaches the pig in the straw house and asks, “Little pig, little pig, let me in.” Now, the part that caught my attention when revisiting the story as a father is this: the little pig does not accept him. He turns him down, but the wolf blows the house in anyway. This is certainly true in life; rarely is anyone stupid enough to welcome trouble when it clearly comes knocking, but we are often too foolish to be prepared against it. “Failing to plan is planning to fail,” as Ben Franklin says. The wolf breaks the house down and eats the little pig.

Next, the wolf comes to the second pig. The same process repeats itself: he asks to be let in, is refused, but forces his way in, eating this pig too. The second house was built out of sticks which, though stronger and requiring more effort than hay, still led to no better a result. If you get eaten, you get eaten. A corpse in rags or in robes is a corpse all the same. Again, note that the pig does not grant the wolf permission to enter. But, due to his lack of preparation, he is overcome all the same.

The third little pig is different. He gets some bricks to make his house, and takes his time building it, putting in the sweat required. Then, when the wolf comes knocking, not only can he offer a defiant “No!” He can back it up. The wolf cannot blow down the house, and tries to come down the chimney only to be burnt alive in the pot the pig was cooking in. (Funny how that never seems to happen to Santa.) So, what do we make of this story? How do we raise our children into the types of pigs who build brick houses?

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” -Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Put the words in your heart; teach them to your children; talk of them in the house, when you lie down and when you rise; bind them on your hand; write them on the very structure of your house. That is how you build a strong house. That is how the wolf—and the serpent—will be kept from entering. Not because you decided in the moment that you did not want him there, but because you built a house, from the foundations to the shingles, that he cannot stand to be in.

And no, you are not alone in failing to do this perfectly. May the Lord have mercy on me as a husband and father. May he take up the sticks and hay I have been working with and turn them into bricks. May he protect you and your family too.

If you’re wondering where to start, especially with kids, I recommend memorization of the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23. Kids can learn and understand these (at least decently) from a young age. I’ll also end by sharing the morning and evening prayers Martin Luther suggested families learn and recite:

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.