Hi everyone,
So, I come now before you a bit frustrated. Or maybe frustrated isn’t the right word. Maybe fed up is more like it. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to be throwing a fit or a tantrum or a desk out the window or anything (because I don’t think that last one is physically possible for me), but I’m just a bit tired of the 1001 moving parts that life just brings.
Or specifically, when trying to get a new phone and internet service hooked up.
So we’re making some changes around the home, and this involved getting some new services from different providers. Some are easy to deal with, some aren’t. It’s hard to figure out the different systems and rules that all these different companies follow. It’s hard to understand why they do the things they do. It’s mind-blowingly difficult to just get what on earth is going on sometimes.
But then I figure, these companies need to make money. That is their goal as a company. So that is what drives them and their practices. My goal is different. I just want stable internet at a super low rate. How I see the end product is just different from how these companies will see it, because the goal is different. Thus the process is different. Thus we butt heads.
For some reason I do want to say that I haven’t been yelling at anyone or demanding to speak to any managers or anything like that. If anything, I’ve been pleasant to work with (if I do say so myself… actually that’s what all the different agents say to me… or at least that is what they’re scripted to say to me). But I’m just saying deep down I feel like I’m at my wit’s end, as I just don’t understand how hard it is to give me what I want, when I want, and the way I want it.
Oh uh, actually maybe I do understand. And the problem isn’t with them.
Here are the readings for next week:
1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Jesus tells us what the kingdom is like, and it isn’t easy to understand. Each story is stranger than the next. They are things that we will never do (or at least I’ll never do, mostly because I’m not a bird, I don’t bake bread, I don’t treasure hunt, I’m not a fan of pearls, and I’ve only been fishing like maybe 3 times in my entire life and caught a total of one undersized fish that was thrown back in the water immediately). So it is hard to understand.
But then maybe we miss the point of the kingdom of God. It isn’t to fulfill our needs and understandings, it isn’t to do things the way we think they should be done, it isn’t even about making money. Rather, the kingdom of God is about community, compassion, and a lavish love and grace that quite literally surpass all understanding.
So sometimes we won’t get the kingdom. Sometimes we won’t see eye-to-eye. Sometimes we might feel like we’re at our wit’s end because all this love and grace stuff can seem so nonsensical to us.
But maybe we just need to shift a bit. Adapt to this different kind of goal that might not be what our goal has been all along. See the world how God sees it, that is, through eyes of peace, mercy, and love. And then maybe, just maybe, we can see the kingdom all around us, bringing us grace, joy, and hope, now and always.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!
Photo by Jordan Harrison on Unsplash