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 When life is suddenly disrupted by an unforeseen event, whether it is minor, like a brief sickness, or major, like a death in the family, God provides an unforeseen blessing, if we will look beneath our losses.
My four-year-old daughter’s favorite movie is "Pocahontas." In the movie, Pocahontas has a dream about a "spinning arrow." The spinning arrow, as Pocahontas finds out later in the movie, is John Smith’s compass. My life frequently feels like this spinning arrow. The days fly by with seemingly little significance. Routine duties such as washing clothes, getting groceries, running errands and spending quality time with my children easily lose their preciousness due to their everyday nature. All of these mundane duties are good—but it is so easy to carry them out with little appreciation for what they mean over the long run.
Last fall, my family’s lives were disrupted by the death of our mother. Suddenly, my four sisters and I had to leave our daily routines and our children, so that we could be with dad, to support him along with each other, through the painful process of saying our final good-byes to mom. We shed a lot of tears—but also, our bereavement provided a beautiful bonding experience. We were together as the family we were growing up—missing our mother. Through the support we gave one another we were able to see how blessed we are to have each other—to see the blessings that have come from having a mom and dad who could see past the daily routines of life and pass on the gift of life to us, their children, so we could grow up to be caring and responsible adults.
As painful as this grieving was, we each walked away with a renewed appreciation for our family—the one in which we grew up and the ones we are making. With God’s daily help, the individual threads woven by our everyday activities do result in a beautiful tapestry.
A spinning arrow
Hurtling through the days
Savoring nothing
Adrift in a haze.
Threshing and churning
Through what I believe;
Missing the beauty
Of each thread that I weave.
Then, suddenly, unbalanced
My ground is lost.
Stilled in the moment,
The routine is tossed.
In the valley of death
There are lilies to gather.
Revealing a tapestry
Of what really does matter.
There is divine beauty
In what seems mundane;
Thread by thread
A beautiful tapestry to gain.
thoughts and a poem by Dean Robinson
e-mail him about it at drobinson@sebesta.com
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