Over the past few days I have spent a large amount of time working on a small 1993 Toyota Pickup that Shannon and I will be taking with us to Washington on Monday. It has had some engine problems for some time now and so we decided that it would be a good idea to knock out some stuff before we go on a 750 mile trip into the unknown. It started out as just a head gasket replacement, but has evolved into a large scale work over. With 187,000 miles under the old girl's belt, it just makes sense to replace some things while you are in the engine. However, with no shop, not much time, and even less money; it has not been easy. I can't just let this project sit for a little while, because we need to be ready-to-go by the first of next week. At the moment, I have no idea where we are going to be sleeping in a few days, and part of me just wishes that I could keep on driving up to Heber every day to weld together chandeliers for a few more months. By then I would have had time to get everything in order, planned, and paid-for.
That's just not the way that life works, at least not most of the time. It is during times like this that miracles happen; little miracles that almost go unnoticed. For example, I have a group of amazing friends that have come over during the last week to help me with this engine. They have come despite the almost indelible grease, the belligerent bolts, the unorganized tools and parts, and the general lack of an intelligent plan of attack. They have made all the difference in the world, and I am very, very grateful for them. I am grateful that Shannon and I both come from such supportive families, who have both been so helpful to us during the last few months as we have dealt with the transitions of getting married and then moving away for medical school. When I think of how lost I would be without these good people, I can't help but look on my situation as miraculous.
There are plenty of reasons not to believe in people. The world around us is full of ample evidence of human failings. Greed of one sort or another, coarseness, sadness, indifference, and perhaps most woeful of all; willful ignorance. Sometimes it feels like we are nothing more than middling creatures in a extremely complicated food chain, where the rule of the jungle is all that matters. Eat or be eaten.
But a man who has been blessed as much as I have recently has a hard time seeing things that way. Kindness is the great champion of human dignity. It is what saves us from the petty animal thing that can be so hurtful in us all.
I believe with all of my heart that we are all brothers and sisters. Every human being on this planet is worth something, and even the most lost or lonely is loved by God. No matter who they are, or how they are hurting, I want my Father in Heaven to be able to send me to help. In the words of the Hymnast, "Because I have been blessed by Thy great love, Dear Lord. I'll share that love again, according to thy word. I shall give to those in need, I'll show that love by word and deed. Thus shall my thanks be thanks in deed."
I believe that the most profound idea that I have ever come across is that a Divine Omnipotence notices us. That in fact, we are the great treasures of His infinity, His sons and daughters. This perfect Architect of existence has the power to make and move mountains, to create and control forces so astronomical that they are beyond our ability to measure, much less understand. It is easier for God to part a sea than it is for Him to get us to listen to the quiet voice of His Holy Spirit. The ocean does not argue or doubt when it is asked to do something by God. Yet, for him the making of a world, or the rending of a river is only a means to an end; the changing of human hearts. When we choose to obey him we do so having clear alternatives in front of us. We choose to be His child and His deciple not because we have to, but because we want to. Because we have learned the lessons that life has been trying to teach us, and we have chosen to follow him. This choice, that happens quietly in our hearts with no real fanfare, is the ultimate object of all of creation. What a wonderful idea.
To my dear friends and loved ones. Thank you. You are wonderful. You are the reason I am who I am, and the reason that someday I will be better than I am today. I love you very much. God go with and bless you.
