Musings: Notes From My Daybook

I bought another printer/copier today. I don't want to mention names, but after 2 Epson units quit on me in the past 6 months, I won't be buying another one from at least one particular company!

I am amazed at the wide selection of options. If I looked a little longer I probably would have found one that would take photographs for you and serve coffee on the side! As it was, printing, faxing, copying, and making a few photographs sounded like plenty of work.

Wouldn't it be nice if when a relationship quits, that it would be that simple? Suddenly a friendship falters, a marriage gets mired in the mud, or things with your children have a chill in the air. No problem, simply set the relationship in the trash and head out to Best Buy!

Not so. Unlike a machine to be plugged or unplugged lies the complex web of stories and connections between ourselves and the one we love. And then comes the sober reality that sometimes the problem is not just out there--with the printer on the desk. Sometimes part of the problem lies within me. I am, in ways known and unknown part of the problem.

Of course, I don't mean that Jack (not his real name) who touched base with me this morning about his wife leaving him for another man was at fault or responsible for her actions. What I am suggesting is that relationships can not be turned on and off with the push of a button. Indeed the wiring runs deep.

All of this leaves messes all over the place. Debris from countless failed and broken relationships litter the landscape. We are all wrapped up in it. We are affected by it. And our experiences often shaped current and future attempts at building new relationship--for better and worse.

But there is another force at work in human relationships that is powerful; the pervasive presence of God's love stands like a sentry ready to respond. The Christian story is rooted in forgiveness and new beginnings. The coming of Jesus, his suffering, his dying, and his rising are all bathed in the warm light of hope.

So, although there was nothing to be done to make broken printers work again, I have great expectations for what can happen in human relationships. Mechancial and technological devices need material and physical solutions--and like it or not, sometimes such solutions are not forthcoming. However, the vibrant, elastic fabric of the human spirit can find remarkable healing and hope through the transforming love of God.

I want a bunch of copies of that!