I found this great cartoon in the Star Tribune this morning. This is the first time their comics page has made me laugh in quite a while...Don't you wonder if this isn't sometimes the way God must feel? Do you suppose many of the hardships and difficulties we go through in life are simply God's way of interrupting our "dominant narrative" long enough to help us get a better grip on reality?
I wonder.
A smart person once said "God never wastes suffering." I like that. I have experienced that. I have a hard time thinking of any moments of suffering I've endured over the course of my life in which I have not grown or learned something useful. Suffering is still suffering - a hammer on the melon is still a hammer on the melon. Let's not kid ourselves. But I firmly believe God sometimes allows a good whack on the noggin to get us to shut up and listen. He doesn't enjoy it, He encourages us to avoid it (i.e. "don't be like a mule who needs bit and bridle"), but it is often necessary. He loves us too much to allow us to run wild.
So I guess we would be wise to hold our narrative loosely, to stop and take a breath now and then just to see what the Doctor thinks about what we're saying, doing and thinking. I'd rather the hammer remain on the silver tray...
