God’s Fingerprints

In his book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff, Richard Carlson writes about the importance of perspective through the responses of two bricklayers. When asked, “What are you doing?” The first laborer complained that he was an underpaid bricklayer forced to earn a living by mindlessly placing bricks on top of one another.

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Yet, the answer was very different when the same question was posed to another bricklayer. “I’m the luckiest person in the world,” she said. “I get to be part of important and beautiful pieces of architecture. I help turn simple pieces of brick into exquisite masterpieces.”

Both workers were right. Yet notice how their attitudes shaped their own lived experience and view of the world.

The purpose of Carlson’s story is to highlight the reality that we see in life what we want to see. If we search for ugliness, rest assured that we will find plenty of it. If we want to find fault with others, our careers, or the world in general, we will find that too.

But the opposite is also true. If we condition ourselves to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary, we will see it. Like the bricklayer who sees cathedrals within the routine of her repetitive work, we can train ourselves to see and experience the extraordinary beauty of God’s handiwork all around us.

Our task, notes Rabbi Harold Kushner, is to look for holiness in what appear to be unholy situations. It is easy to see God’s beauty in a lavender-orange sunset, a baby’s smile, or in life’s celebratory moments. But can we also learn to encounter God in life’s seemingly ugly circumstances – while enduring difficult life lessons, in the aftermath of a family tragedy, or in the frustrating search for meaning in our lives?

When we learn to look for God’s fingerprints our perspective changes. “When we remember that everything has God’s fingerprints on it, that alone makes it special,” writes Richard Carlson. Just because we can’t see the beauty in something does not mean that it is not there. Rather, it suggests that we are not looking carefully enough.

The Potholes of Life

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Change is hard. Perhaps that is why we humans resist change. Take for example, the news that we would once again have to find a new location for worship. And while disappointing, the sense of urgency triggered by the impending end of our current building use agreement has also opened up new opportunities and possibilities for ministry and mission moving forward.

Would we have engaged in this work as readily without the need to find a new worship home? Probably not. Nothing motivates us like adversity. Does it?

Our current situation reminds me of a story about an unlucky frog who slipped into a large pothole while hopping along a country road. No matter how hard she tried, the frog could not jump out of the hole. Even the frog’s friends from the forest could not get her out. After several failed attempts, the animals from the forest gave up, telling the frog they would need to go and look for some food because it looked like she was going to be stuck in the pothole for a long time.

However, not long after the forest creatures left to find food, they heard the frog hopping along after them. They could not believe it. “We thought you couldn’t get out!” exclaimed the rabbit. “Oh, I couldn’t,” replied the frog, “But you see, there was a big truck coming right at me and I had to.”

Life is a lot like that, isn’t it? It is only when we “have to” get out of the potholes of life that we change. Because the truth, notes Pastor John Maxwell, is that most people are more comfortable with old problems than innovative solutions.

Adversity, though frustrating, can help us grow, cultivate strength, and move forward into the future with optimism if we can harness the power of adaptive capacity. One way to begin is by reframing the situation. In Salem’s situation, we can begin by praying about and then looking for the many ways that God is equipping us to participate in God’s mission for the world. Like trapeze artists, we can let go of what was to move forward into what will be. Yes, we may struggle when encountering potholes, roadblocks, and detours in ministry. But the key is not to become stuck or defined by them. Digging down, trusting God, and finding the strength to move forward in faith can (and will) lead us to something positive and meaningful.