We all have some notes for the writers of our lives.
Some questions, complaints, and seeming incongruences we would like to address if given the opportunity.
For when we consider our lives, we are often more disappointed and confused than we are accepting and contented. Perhaps it is human nature, but we can almost always recall incidences of us being slighted with greater speed and detail than we can those of blessings. Furthermore, we are sure to attribute at least a portion of the blessings to ourselves (while conveniently absolving ourselves of any guilt in the negative experiences.)
And when we play the comparison game (which is only always) it further compounds our frustration at the seeming lack of parity.
Overall, we are left with the impression that given the power we might be able to more effectively chart our lives than the lot we have drawn. Sadly though, we have missed the point.
“Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?””
Paul certainly pulls no punches. And the truth, which is at once disappointing and freeing, is that we don’t know better. For we are beholden to our finite and limited perspective. Furthermore, our selfish nature is constantly recentering the frame on ourselves.
But we were never designed to be the all-knowing, omni-present, renaissance beings we have conjured in our minds. We were instead designed to be present in a specific role that ultimately supports the greater picture. For in community we are collectively perfected, not in solitary.
One might liken life then to a symphony. While there is beauty in a solo virtuoso performance, harmony and timing from all the collective members breathes majesty and power into the music. This isn’t to say we should stop trying to make ourselves more, for the better each flautist, the better the symphony, rather that we should accept and maximize the gifts and role we have already been awarded.
Contentedness comes then not from achievement (for we have all experienced empty success), but from understanding and patience. Understanding the larger picture, and instead of attempting to be recast, remaining patient and present in our role for the time and opportunities that will surely be presented.