Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Dear God,

Sometimes joy arises out of trust during a chaotic situation. Friday my computer crashed. It took hours to resolve it. Haven't got the bill yet. Monday a mason told us we needed a new chimney costing $7,000. An hour later a neighbor told us our basement had flooded big time in Maine. Boiler, washer, dryer, assorted camping gear, etc. etc. etc. Hmm!

Now, it seems to me that a decision needed to be made during the crisis. Response? How will I respond? Like Chicken Little, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling?" Go ballistic, striking out at others and shouting like Geraldene, "the devil made me do it?" Or pray like the psalmist, "I lift mine eyes to the hills?" I did none of these. I danced in the grass.

When I got home Chicken Little assured me that the sky was indeed falling, reminding me that the roof already needed repair and now the bricks would come falling upon our heads. Realizing the severity of the situation plus the fact that Chicken was so distraught, I decided to dance. I forced Chicken to move his feet from the patio to the grass. "The neighbors will see us," Chicken cried. "Don't worry; they will want to join us." I tried to assure him. We began dancing as Clementine hummed, "Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clementine! Thou art lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine."

Within minutes Chicken and Clementine left for a meal of sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw. Chicken had liver and onions. They laughed for a time; Clementine a little more freely.

Now the moral of the story is chaos can give birth to greater chaos or chaos can give birth to trust. In any case God, you are present in both. One leads to peace, the other to high blood pressure (Chicken and Clementine both suffer from it anyway. Imagine the high numbers if number two is selected as a response)

Trust is always an appropriate response. I can't trust, of course, unless I trust in you. You bring the advent of peace, of comfort. Your compassionate care gives us other options tried and true. We can weather (no pun intended for the nor easter that ravaged Maine, thus our home) life's storms and the money it takes to make the repairs trusting God to guide and help or we can turn away, be angry, insecure, blame, shudder and cry. Trusting this time brought my body to dance.

Not bad, God,
you jumped
into a tense situation
and you turned lemons
into an outstanding lemon pie.
(Well, maybe not quite outstanding,
but you did change the moment
for the better.)
Learning to trust
teaches me to turn to you.
No situation is too big
or small
for you.
They are the same
in your sight.
Thank you for the dance today.
Believe me,
I am grateful.

I'll dance with you anytime, Andrea