In his charming book Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps, poet Ted Kooser tells the story his Czech neighbors recite about what God
does to make a poor man happy. “To make a poor man happy God arranges for the
man to lose his mule, then after a while, find it again.”
There is a dynamic in play when we learn what we thought was
so turns out to be nothing. Here’s my Lumunos/Facebook friend Susanna’s take: “The
MRI that comes back clean. The 3am beeping carbon monoxide detector that
just needs batteries. The child who walks in late and just forgot to
call. Here's to all the somethings that turn out to be nothing.” The mule is not lost after all.
Sometimes the lost mule takes the form of reclaimed time. Last week I looked at my calendar and saw
that I had missed the deadline for this blog – by 3 days. I felt terrible. But after a closer look, it became obvious
that I had been working on taxes and had left my calendar turned to February
2012. After flipping to the proper year and seeing that my deadline was still a
week away, I literally felt physical relief.
In John 10:10 Jesus says “The thief
comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and
have it abundantly.” I am too willing to turn over
my serenity to that thief by forgetting the second half of the verse.
The mule is lost or the deadline seems to be missed, and I become anxious and
afraid. I forget that Jesus comes
offering life better than we can imagine.
The “Bohemian Alps” are in Nebraska and if you know Nebraska
you are aware that it’s a tall tale to consider them even small foothills. Alps
they are not. Good wisdom comes from low places. It’s not a tall tale that it
feels so much better to remember and believe what is promised.
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