Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday Reflection: Slip and Fall
My vote for the funniest book of the year has to go to Stick Man's Really Bad Day by Scott Mockus. It shows the sad adventures of stick man (pictured above falling down some stairs) as he is electrocuted, hit by falling rocks, tips over a forklift, and gets hit by cars, among other misadventures. It's all there in the pictures.
We are all Stick Man, aren't we? I still don't know what to do when there is a sign that says "watch for falling rocks," since (like Stick Man) I probably won't see the rocks until there is nothing I can do about it, and they are cascading onto my head. It's more a prediction than a warning. "That's what you will be doing when the rocks start to fall, dummy" is what the sign should really say.
Personally, I have a real affinity for Stick Man, in part because the same month that my family moved to a new house when I was six, the town put up a "Slow Children" sign at the end of the block that showed Stick Man and his slow child (who I assumed was me) as they slowly and awkwardly crossed the street in front of traffic.
As the Slow Children sign predicted, I have pretty much grown up to be Stick Man, blundering from one near-death experience to another. Each time, too, the source is the same: A lack of focus. You look at your phone for one second, just to see if that guy texted back about your bike getting fixed, and BOOM, over goes the forklift. I'm walking along, and suddenly I am thinking about sentencing in Finland, and idly reach out to touch the fence nearby and it never even occurs to me to check to see if it is an electric fence and there you go... a lot of volts. Problems (real ones) arise when I lack focus, if just for a minute.
When I read the Gospels, I'm shocked by Jesus's focus. He is on all the time-- people are constantly watching him, expecting answers and healing and various miracles. He is not distracted, either, not once.
It wears him down, though. He retreats by himself, or with a few key friends. He respects the Sabbath, and gives things a rest. Perhaps that is part of his wisdom too, and a part we (or at least I) too rarely honor. Probably we should, for the sake of ourselves and our forklifts.
Comments:
<< Home
Your Stick Man story is pretty evocative and paired with the links for an actual electric fence or an actual forklift, should we be moved to acquire one, puts today's reflection into sharp focus. I have to say though, I found the “miracles” link a bit disturbing...do people really post “urgent prayer requests?!?!”
Post a Comment
<< Home
