The Bark of Life

Legend has it that during the 12th century an Italian traveler went to the French town of Chartres to see the great church that was being built. It was near the end of the day, so as he arrived the workmen were leaving for home. He saw one man covered with dust and asked, “What do you do here?” The man replied that he was a stonemason. He spent his days carving rocks. Another said that he was a glassblower who spent his days making slabs of colored glass. Another answered that his job was blacksmithing. He pounded iron for a living.

Wandering through the building site, much deeper inside the giant edifice, the man met a cleaning lady sweeping up wood chips, stone dust, and glass shards. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Me? I’m building a cathedral for the Glory of Almighty God.”

The others only saw what was in front of them, but she saw the bigger picture.

How wide is my view? The further I travel on this earth, the more I realize that I can only see one miniscule piece of the picture. I’m like the blacksmith who can only see the spot where the hammer meets the glowing iron.

Here’s the point: Our view of life is severely limited. God’s is unlimited.

If I look at my illness through earthly eyes, it doesn’t make any sense, so I don’t ask the “why” question any longer. The better one is, “Can I trust that there really is more than I can see with these eyes?” I’ve heard from several of you that you are angry with God and asking, “Why Maralyn?” That is a very natural response…if you’re thinking in a humanly way.

But God knows more.

Next time you empty a roll of paper towels, just look through the tube and see how much of the earth you can see. I did it this morning, looking toward our back yard, and saw only a quarter-sized piece of tree bark. Yes, that's about how big my viewpoint is compared to God's. I'm an earthling and I base everything on earth stuff.

For six months every time I’ve been out in public—in a grocery store, in an airport, on the highway-- I have found myself thinking about the people I meet. “I wonder if they realize how short time is on this temporary earth. I wonder if they have it figured out that 99% of the stuff they spend their time on doesn’t really matter. I wonder if they know that life is more than how big their house is, where they’re going on their next vacation, or if the towels in the bathroom are a perfect match.

I went to the doctor today for a routine check-up. I was ready to hear that there had been some deterioration. That would be normal with ALS, right? I was mentally ready for it. But, guess what? The doctor said that my body doesn’t seem to have changed in the last three months. Isn’t that exciting? My lungs still have normal function. My speech hasn’t changed since he saw me last. The function of my muscles is the same as last time he checked me. He said, “What we have here seems like a slow case of ALS.” I say, “Praise God!!!”

I really don't know what's happening. Has this disease stopped advancing? Is it just moving slowly? Or what? But no matter how all of this turns out, I'm glad I'm friends with a God who has a bigger view than I do because I'm figuring out that LIFE IS MORE THAN THE TINY SPOT OF TREE BARK THAT I CAN SEE!! I'm glad I know the One who has a bigger scope of things.