Shattered
My favourite blue Pyrex bowl was hot out of the microwave and sitting in the sink to cool. I had already dumped out the meatloaf on to a plate and was now trying to lift a small glass out of the centre of the meat. It suddenly slipped from the tongs I was using and fell into the sink faster than I expected. Sharp shards of glass bowl fractured and flew within the confines of the sink while the small glass remained intact.
As I stood there in silence surveying the damage, I realized that the bowl was designed to handle the stress of heat. It probably could have also withstood the stress of impact. What it could not absorb was the combined stress of heat and impact all at once. What if there would have been water in the sink to help absorb the shock and stress? Would water have provided enough of a cushion to keep the bowl together so it could still be useful?
When I have stress at work, I come home to peace and renewal. When I have stress at home, it is sometimes nice to go to work to escape and focus on other things. When home and work are both places of stress, what is around me to cushion and keep me from breaking into a million pieces? I think I now know what it is.
My husband and I have been praying together over the last week, even more than once a day. As we join in asking Someone bigger than us to walk with us through our stress, a load is lifted. Praying alone is one thing; joining hearts with someone else goes to another level. "When two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them."
I don't want to deal with my stress in isolation. I need people around me who understand, who can empathize and who also can support me with their prayers. I trust that I will always be able to support others as I am being cushioned and bouyed through this time.
As I stood there in silence surveying the damage, I realized that the bowl was designed to handle the stress of heat. It probably could have also withstood the stress of impact. What it could not absorb was the combined stress of heat and impact all at once. What if there would have been water in the sink to help absorb the shock and stress? Would water have provided enough of a cushion to keep the bowl together so it could still be useful?
When I have stress at work, I come home to peace and renewal. When I have stress at home, it is sometimes nice to go to work to escape and focus on other things. When home and work are both places of stress, what is around me to cushion and keep me from breaking into a million pieces? I think I now know what it is.
My husband and I have been praying together over the last week, even more than once a day. As we join in asking Someone bigger than us to walk with us through our stress, a load is lifted. Praying alone is one thing; joining hearts with someone else goes to another level. "When two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them."
I don't want to deal with my stress in isolation. I need people around me who understand, who can empathize and who also can support me with their prayers. I trust that I will always be able to support others as I am being cushioned and bouyed through this time.
Comments
Your alliteration (sharp shards; surveying silence) adds to its literary quality.
But the message is even more powerful as it deals with a topic (stress) with which everyone can relate. Changing venues is helpful but praying with another individual is excellent medication!