QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"There are parts of a ship which taken by themselves would sink. The engine would sink. The
propeller would sink. But when the parts of a ship are built together, they float. So with the events of
my life. Some have been tragic. Some have been happy. But when they are built together, they form
a craft that floats and is going someplace."
--Ralph W. Sockman, (1899--?) American theologian
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
Many of us tend to look at events in our lives as singular happenings. If we are going though a particular challenging time, we just want to get through it, forget it and move on. If we are having a happy experience, we want it to last forever, and if it changes we long to have it return. Life events are looked on as bricks that are laid side by side with no pattern or purpose. But the reality is that the "bricks" are really placed upon each other and build upon the prior experience, or at the very least are influenced by the prior experience. They comprise the building that makes up our life.
When we look at the interconnectiveness of this we gain a better appreciation for the individual events. We can come to value the knowledge and experience and be thankful for it. We can use the experiences to broaden our lives and begin living to the fullest. We begin seeing life as a journey of related events and can use the past and present events to make better choices in the future. We then have, as Ralph Sockman said, "...a craft that floats and is going someplace."
Blessings and Love,
Allen Schmeltz
Copyright © 1998 Allen F. Schmeltz. All rights reserved.
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