Piloting Faith: Wisdom in front of our eyes...

A Word for the Day...

This past week, I had the chance to spend some time with someone who isn't "tech-savvy." On our final day, she and I sat together to fix some issues that she was having with her computer. She was apologetic that she couldn’t “figure this out” on her own. Working on her computer is never a problem for me, but I was raised in a world where these skills are second nature. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her and her generation who find themselves suddenly thrust into a technological age moving at the speed of sound. It hardly seems fair.

I wonder about the long-term use of our obsession with youth, immortality, and progress. It seems like we are running from progress rather than to progress; we are missing gifts in one another right before our eyes.

A legend tells of a man who used to carry water every day to his village, using two large pitchers tied on either end of a piece of wood, which he placed across his shoulders. One of the pitchers was older than the other and was full of small cracks. Every time the man came back along the path to his house, half of the water was lost.

For two years, the man-made the same journey. The younger pitcher was always very proud of the way it did its work and was sure that it was up to the task for which it had been created. The other pitcher was mortally ashamed that it could carry out only half of its task, even though it knew that the cracks were the result of long years of work.

So ashamed was the older pitcher that, one day, when the man was preparing to fill it up with water from the well, it decided to speak to him.

"I wish to apologize because, due to my age, you only manage to take home half the water you fill me with, and thus quench only half the thirst awaiting you in your house."

The man smiled and said: "When we go back, be sure to take a careful look at the path."

The pitcher did as the man asked and noticed many flowers and plants growing along one side of the path.

"Do you see how much more beautiful nature is on your side of the road?” The man remarked. “I knew you had cracks, but I decided to take advantage of them. I sowed vegetables and flowers there, and you always watered them. I’ve picked dozens of roses to decorate my house, and my children have lettuce, cabbage and onions to eat. If you were not the way you are, I could never have done this. We all, at some point, grow old and acquire other qualities, and these can always be turned to good advantage?"

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. All of it – every moment – is a wonderful, God-gifted journey. What can the cracks in your well-lived, worked-out life teach you and the rest of us today? I’m looking for the flowers to show me the way…

- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight

Prayer for the Week

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

- A Franciscan Benediction