The carport is strewn with unused or discarded pieces from the latest construction project. The structure is magnificent and will bring enjoyment to friends and family for years to come. The task of sorting the sawed pieces has begun and the first and easiest was identifying and collecting those that could easily be used as fuel this winter. The second will be to discern those that may be useful for future projects. The last task will be collecting those pieces that are neither reusable nor burnable by virtue of their size or chemical content. The task is simple enough, but the physical toll from bending, squatting and kneeling remind me that my “jack rabbit” expectations of muscles and neural pathways are today unrealistic. The easiest approach to the carport cleanup would be to just stack the whole lot of scraps into a remote pile and set it ablaze. That approach, however, would not be the wisest. Likewise, I am often tempted to embrace the thought that the easiest approach to this chronic “illness” is to pile all of life’s challenges into a heap called “disease” and blanket my day under that cover. I have tried that approach a couple of times in the solitude of my “self” indulgence. I find it too hot under that blanket. I needed to fold it back for some fresh air; air that was not tainted with the pollution of self-pity, limited thinking, or singular constraints. When I emerged from beneath that smothering encampment, I was faced with the discovery that the structure from which all these “pieces” had been seemingly discarded had been a part of what has become a beautiful structure, unlike any other constructed. It is made unique and wonderful not by my hand alone, but by that of the “Master Craftsman” who has built this structure through both the resistance of hardened pieces and pliable substance. In the hands of a craftsman, even the toughest piece takes its rightful place. I am thankful to learn that one piece alone does not a structure make!
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