I was on my way home from work yesterday, fighting traffic, ready to enjoy a four day weekend and time with my family when a car caught my eye. The front of it was beautiful, clearly a new coupe, with a bright silver paint job, but as I moved closer I saw the entire rear had been crushed. It was still drive-able, but it's side was literally smashed. The metal looked as if it had been crumpled into a ball and someone had tried to unfold it. The sparkle of the paint job was still there, but it was littered by scratches and dents. Although the car seemed durable and strong, the reality is that the impact showed it's fragility. Yet, it kept on driving.
Maybe I am just getting sentimental as I age, but I could not help but think how this car was such a true representation of the human condition. You could almost see the accident happening. I'm sure the driver had other things on his mind that day, perhaps what was for dinner, a meeting he was late for, or how Pandora always plays the songs over and over again...... when BAM! The impact occurred, one second his car was fine, the next he had an expensive project on his hands.
Isn't that how life can be? It surprises us. We travel along, doing our daily stuff, going to work, keeping the house clean, trying to make sure everyone has clean underwear, and throwing in a little fun when we can. When all of a sudden we are faced with more. Perhaps it's a tragedy on a large scale, a death, divorce, job loss, but sometimes its just a fender-bender. We fight with our spouse, we fail at a project, have a health scare. All of these events leave a mark. We are left with dents and scratches.
Humanity is fragile. We put on airs of toughness; most days we do what needs to be done for the sake of our family, our jobs, or our own pride. But we are all just one wrong turn, one phone call away from the tough exterior breaking down. Yet, just like that car, we keep on driving.
There is no doubt these impacts forever change us. The pain and trials in our lives leave deep marks in our hearts and minds, but they do not destroy us. Yes we are fragile, but we also have a durability, a desire to keep going, to keep fighting the pain, and travel onward.
I have always looked at parents who have suffered the loss of a child and wondered, how do they do it? How do they get our of bed every day, drink their coffee and face the day? I am in awe of their strength and resiliency, but I have never understood how it came to be.
For some reason seeing this banged up car gave me a picture of our humanity. When scripture says" we are fearfully and wonderfully made," I wonder if this is part of that. He understood that life would be hard and that we were being born into a world that undoubtedly would have its share of pain and suffering, yet he created us to withstand. I believe it is one of the miracles of creation, the softness of the human heart, combined with the will to survive.
Today is Thanksgiving, and I am also thinking about living a life of gratitude. So for this mystery I am grateful. I give thanks that I am created to love and be loved, to stay sensitive to the pain and see suffering for what it is, but I do not let the pain consume me. I am thankful that we have been created to live a life with dents and scratches. We are all a little banged up, but we keep on driving. The journey can still be beautiful.
