and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.”
~ Julian of Norwich
I heard a story years ago (and have shared it numerous times when appropriate) about a couple who arrived home with their newly purchased motor home. As they attempted to get it into their driveway, she was directing from outside the vehicle.
“Honey, do you see the mailbox?” she called out.
“I see it,” came his reply.
As he inched closer to the mailbox, she asked again, “Honey, do you see the mailbox?” with a little more urgency.
“I see the mailbox,” he called back, with minor annoyance developing.
Inevitably now heading right for it, she yelled, “HONEY, DO YOU SEEEEEEEE THE MAILBOX?”
“I SEEEEEEEEE THE MAILBOX!” he shouted back.
CRASH!
They were looking at two different mailboxes. The mailbox she was watching him bear down on was out of his vision. The mailbox he was carefully avoiding by looking in his mirror was blocked from her vantage point.
It is not easy when we see things so differently. We may actually be looking at different things.
Jeanne Robertson tells of a situation with her husband, whom she affectionately refers to as “Left Brain.”
She asked him to go by the store for her. He grumbled about not wanting to be late for his badminton game. She promised to keep the list short enough he could scoot through the express lane.
She gave him her list, and off he went.
-
1 pound of butter
2 large bottle of vanilla flavoring
3 dozen eggs
4 big tub of lard
5 5# bag of sugar
6 5# bag of all-purpose flour
7 bottle of 7-Up (six pack with handles)
When he returned from the store, it took Left Brain multiple trips to unload everything —- because he read her numbers on the list as quantities!!!!
Imagine how long it will take to use 25 pounds of sugar and 30 pounds of flour….
She had never written numbers on a list before, but she did it this time because the mailbox she was looking at was wanting to be sure he could go through the express lane. Oh, my….
If you are a person who prays, just add a few extra intentions for all humans to realize our point of view is only ONE way of seeing things, and how important it is to learn from what we cannot see.
Meanwhile, keep a sense of humor. Especially during difficulties.
