I would have to say that life is a lot like painting a coffee mug.
You start with a blank slate, a course whiteness that is gritty to the touch. You get to dream about how you will create a masterpiece and wow the world with its pure awesomeness. The perfect piece of art, just the right balance of colors and smooth to the touch. It will be a piece destined for the Louvre.
Then you begin the actual journey of creating. You formulate the picture and pick the colors, you choose the brushes that will create that "just right" stroke to allow your creative potential to come to full existence. You sit down...you are all set.
Then...
You begin.
But wait. The you cannot tell what the color will ACTUALLY look like! Have you done enough coats? This is taking WAY longer then you figured.
"AND FOR THE LOVE OF.....CAN I JUST MAKE A STRAIGHT LINE!?"
As frustration mounts, you come to grips with the idea that the picture of perfection you had formulated in your head was but an unrealistic dream never destined for realization.
The outcome was never going to be what you had imagined or intended.
What is worse, is in the process of the journey you became so frustrated with attempting to keep this from becoming a complete disaster, (to no avail, mind you) that you had absolutely no fun on the journey of creation.
What about those on the journey with you (because who goes to paint pottery by themselves..can we say LOSER!)? Were you able to look at THEIR creation and enjoy what THEY were making? Were you able to have a great conversation while in process of this train-wreck of artistic venture?
No. So it became an unpleasant experience for you both to some degree because of your expectation of what your masterpiece was to be vs the companionship that is. And what memory will you have of that day? Will you laugh at the hideous creation that you now prize in your possession because it marks a journey of life and conversation with someone that is of value and loved? Or will your memory be of frustration and uncomfortable silence because you were so caught up in the mis-adventured project, and not the person....
Interesting how this parallels life.
In our daily walks, we have expectation of how things should be, how we are going to "make" them. And when life does not go as planned, we try with everything we have to steer it back on course. What happens when you come to the realization that life will not end up as you planned? What happens when all attempts to "fix" your life fail? How will you respond? Will you throw your mug away? Will you shelve it behind everything else in the cupboard?
When all is said and done, I don't believe any of our lives, like my sad, ugly excuse for a mug, will turn out like we expect. But the sad part is what we may have lost on the journey. The lives and conversations ignored because we were so caught up in trying to put our lives "back on track". The God moments, the joy of simple companionship, the laughter, the tears,
life.
Gone.
You never get those moments back. That is a hard realization, and the truth.
But the good news is there will be more opportunities to torpedo more helpless mugs in the name of art. More time set aside for real conversations, whimsical expression, and hopefully good coffee.
When I get to the end of life, I want to look back at all of the hideous mugs I have created and smile.
Because every mug was not about the atrocious paint job,
it was about the person who was next to me during the creation.
This mug was about the next adventure in Dana's life. This mug was about the relationship that just ended for Joe. This mug is filled with questions about faith and life by Stephanie...and guess what.
This mug..right here?
It holds eternity the day that Mike surrendered his life to Jesus.
May we never forsake the journey of creation for our "masterpiece" that will never be.
