Without story, experiences are just random.
Donald Miller from A Million Miles In A Thousand Years
I had a friend, a spiritual giant who always listened with an open ear to my self-righteous and most times silly ranting about where my chosen spiritual designation was taking the wrong path. He smiled, listened, commented thoughtfully, didn’t make me feel like an idiot and still loved me. I, of course, loved him.
He died. It was one of those inexplicable, unfair, crazy deaths. One that makes us all poorer.
I’ve tried. There’s nothing I can do to make sense of it.
My best friend is a great human being. He loves his wife, kids and family. He is bright and works hard. He shares his wealth with the people who help him build it. His business thrives. Without explanation, his family suffers. His children make choices that break his heart. And mine, because I love him, and his family.
There’s nothing I can do to make sense of it. I’ve tried.
I do my best to take God at his word. He says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart”. I think I work pretty hard at trying to figure out God’s heart so I can be like him. I really want my desires to be his desires, which I think is the point of what he’s trying to say. The problem is that it doesn’t always seem to work out for me. I sincerely seek his face and find myself occasionally disappointed.
I’ve tried and tried. There’s nothing I can do to make sense of it.
Taken individually, I think the stuff I go through could make a person a bitter and lonely agnostic. I’ve toyed with those possibilities. But somehow I love my life, and especially my creator, in spite of the random, crazy experiences that seem to make no sense when taken alone.
We all have a story.
But, it’s a chapter, not a novel.
What makes life exciting is not just participating in the adventure, which by definition means that we don’t know and can’t predict what’s coming next, but also hearing about other’s adventures and how their stories feel like they are a part of something bigger.
God says he’s got a plan for us and it’s good and it’s to prosper us and not depress us. Where I think we get bogged down is that we forget that we are a part of a bigger story and not just our own. Our creator’s story is about establishing a kingdom on earth where everyone really does get along, but according to his rules. He gives us the opportunity to know where the story’s headed and how it ends, but we don’t get to read the script.
And all of us whether we want to or not get to have a part in that play.
Great stories are about character development, overcoming obstacles and changing the world just a fraction of an inch better than it was.
That’s a story that I want to have a meaningful part in.
And since I am going to play a part in it one way or the other, I will take my part to heart and play with abandon knowing that all the parts in this multi-act play may not make sense on their own but, the end is going to be cool.
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness
of the LORD in the land of the living!
Psalm 27:13
