A Cup of Perspective

This past week has been the kind where if my life were a cartoon strip, I’d be the character that had the black thunder and lighting cloud following them around.

Nothing catastrophic going on mind you, all body parts are working as they should and friends and family are ok; seemingly so anyway.  It’s just some every day life events have become unusually complicated and left me feeling like I’d been swimming in a vat of molasses.

A work project implodes out of nowhere.  An Amazon delivery goes to my old address the same day the new tenants leave for a month long vacation, AFTER putting my package inside.  My printer goes kerplunk the night before an important deadline.  The perfect parking spot magically opens up for the guy I allow to cut in front of me.  The on line toll system the state of California uses to extort taxpayers   collect payment was down, forcing me to waste several hours navigating their tortuous phone system.  Three cavities  discovered during what should have been a simple cleaning.

I could whine on, as every day seemed to bring  its own special set of annoyances and by Friday I was done, both physically and mentally.  Lunch on the beach seemed the perfect antidote and so there I sat with my toes in the sand and a homemade tunafish sandwich in hand, when I let my mind drift towards God and what He might be trying to say to me.

Where is Your message in all this?  Is there a point or is it all random?  What am I missing here?  Just then a seagull swooped down, grabbed the bulk of my sandwich and flew off, raining chunks of tuna in his wake.  Really God?

Later that day while out doing errands, I ran in to a neighbor of mine and asked how she was doing.  She said the chronic pain she had been dealing with had gotten much worse and that the doctors can’t seem to find out what’s wrong.  Her disability checks were also screwed up and sometimes showing up weeks late.   She asked if I could take pictures of some items she hoped to sell on Craig’s List so she could pay next month’s rent.  Um, sure, of course I can.

Appreciate what you have, she told me, it can all go away in an instant.

Message received God.  Loud and clear and with a heaping dose of humility.