“The
mercy of the world is you don’t know what’s going to happen.” ― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow
mercy of the world is you don’t know what’s going to happen.” ― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow
As
children, and then young adults, we start out into this world without a very
good sense of who we are. The older we get, the more we realize our capacities,
our strengths, our weaknesses, our gifts from God, and the things that we will
never accomplish. If I had known from the start the gifts I would be given, I
might have set out to take advantage of those abilities and might not have
attempted some other things. I would have been a lesser man for taking that
approach; for we learn our true weight in the world by testing our legs. One
cannot truly learn that they are good at something until they try, practise,
and perfect that ability. Conversely, one does not learn their weaknesses and
disabilities without a good number of attempts and failures.
children, and then young adults, we start out into this world without a very
good sense of who we are. The older we get, the more we realize our capacities,
our strengths, our weaknesses, our gifts from God, and the things that we will
never accomplish. If I had known from the start the gifts I would be given, I
might have set out to take advantage of those abilities and might not have
attempted some other things. I would have been a lesser man for taking that
approach; for we learn our true weight in the world by testing our legs. One
cannot truly learn that they are good at something until they try, practise,
and perfect that ability. Conversely, one does not learn their weaknesses and
disabilities without a good number of attempts and failures.
Despite
our questions, insecurities, curiosities, and frustrations, God has given us a
good gift in not allowing us to know our futures. “When the trumpet of the
Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more” we will look back over our
lives with an eye to how the story was woven together from its many balls of
yarn. We will see the smooth and harmonious colours of the ordered portions of
our lives and we will see the snarls, loose loops, broken strands, and clashing
colours of the places along the way in which we made small and large mistakes – and the times when the horror of the world impinged upon the fabric of life.
Then, we will know how much we have been blessed, the true nature of our work
will be understood, and we will appreciate the full grace of the One who holds
all of the fabrics together in the tapestry of a collected community.
our questions, insecurities, curiosities, and frustrations, God has given us a
good gift in not allowing us to know our futures. “When the trumpet of the
Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more” we will look back over our
lives with an eye to how the story was woven together from its many balls of
yarn. We will see the smooth and harmonious colours of the ordered portions of
our lives and we will see the snarls, loose loops, broken strands, and clashing
colours of the places along the way in which we made small and large mistakes – and the times when the horror of the world impinged upon the fabric of life.
Then, we will know how much we have been blessed, the true nature of our work
will be understood, and we will appreciate the full grace of the One who holds
all of the fabrics together in the tapestry of a collected community.