Thursday, December 22, 2011

A few weeks ago I was at a friend's house for a party and some pizza. Shortly after I got there I noticed her turn the oven on and slip the pizza (in the boxes) into it. Less than ten minutes later she opens it to pull them out and smoke starts pouring from the mouth of the oven, then fire. There's five girls there. Two just stand at a distance and observe, one jumps around yelling about a fire extinguisher, one runs around grabbing glasses of liquid to dump on the mess, and I stand there knowing that there's a better way to deal with this, but that way eludes me. I simply join in the dashing of water and soda onto the pizza. The fire goes out and we laugh hysterically.
Looking back, I realize that the better way I was searching for was to close the oven and thus cut off the oxygen fueling the fire. Such an obvious answer, and if we had thought of it, both pizzas could have been saved. But we did not think of it. And that is OK. I think, in a crazy way, this story can be related to how things pan out in real life most of the time. When we have hindsight, we often see better ways to have done things, but that doesn't mean we should have done it that way. It just means that to our flawed minds, it looks better. I don't regret standing there wondering what to do as the two other girls jumped into action, or not asking her what the heck she was thinking by putting the cardboard boxes into the lighted oven. It's fine.

To be a peacemaker, you have to be at peace with yourself and the things you do.


I really believe that (just so far as we don't make peace with our sin). Sometimes we have to make decisions in a matter of minutes. What's best for us. What's best for others. Sometimes it doesn't turn out well, sometimes our decisions fix everything. But no matter what we do, how hard we regret, or how proud we are of the action we took, la la la la life goes on. Pages turn. Stuff ends. New things begin. It's hard but it's beautiful. Our spirits give us the strength to bounce back with renewed energy. That energy is freedom. Freedom to stary over, to try new things, to meet new people. To be open. Life is like a brook that bubbles past. We are little rocks that get stuck in it's currents and gulleys. The water shapes us, molds us. Our hearts are bruised by its racing fury. We float on again. All of this is God's work of sanctification in us, and it is perfect in spite of our blemishes.
Things never seem to end in this world. They just stop for a while....and then they are back, or something quite similar takes their place. Saying goodbye is only temporary. Bidding adieu won't last forever. God's plan is usually different than ours and it is always wonderful.



The End.




(for now at least :))



Lydia

And I said Oh My Lord, why am I not strong?
Like the wheel that keeps the traveller travelin' on
Like the wheel that will take me home.
~The Tallest Man on Earth

No comments:

Post a Comment