Grabbing a quick lunch and then heading out to go hiking or kayaking is not an uncommon occurrence in our household, especially in the final precious days of golden summer.
On this particular day, my daughter was in charge of making sandwiches.
“Mmmbbbfff!” My son had bitten into his sandwich, which was basically a pocket of bread overflowing with creamy peanut butter.
“There’s way too much peanut butter in here!” he exclaimed. “It’s almost drinkable!”
As a rule, Daddy and I have zero tolerance for complaints of any kind at the table.
“Be quiet and drink your sandwich!” Daddy bellowed.
We all erupted in peanut buttery laughter.
Sometimes things are simply not the way they are supposed to be. A “drinkable sandwich” is one such example, and yet the laughter it evoked was sweet.
Imperfections abound
“Drinkable sandwiches” or imperfections due to our humanness abound in and around us in all manner of ways — in our world, Church, or culture as a whole; in our communities, parishes, or schools; in our households, relationships, or ourselves.
Often we are called to let go of the way things are “supposed to be” and live with the reality of how things actually are — and to do it with humor and a smile.
It’s a tall order.
But life continually demands that we learn to let go of people, perceptions, sinful behavior, and imperfections at many levels.
He makes things new
In all its forms, this “letting go” — this detachment and surrender — is meant to drive us closer to the reality that we must fully depend not on ourselves but on God. We must accept wholeheartedly that He is the one who makes things whole and new, in His own way.
“And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:5).
With each of these mini-lessons in “letting go,” we grasp just a little bit more of what it means to live with what God has given us, exteriorly as well as interiorly.
The point is not that we accept mediocrity, but that we don’t dwell on our inevitable humanness and less-than-perfect situations here on earth.
Instead, we need to prayerfully focus on the positive:
How does God want to use you in these imperfect situations that abound in and around you?
How can you share His Truth, light, and love with others in your life?
How can you detach yourself from imperfections of all kinds so that you cling to Him alone?
Sweet reality
When we let go of all imperfections and surrender them to God, this is the sweetness of the reality to which He wants to lead us: an utter dependence on Him alone.
It’s a sweet reality without which our souls cannot survive.
Julianne Nornberg, mother of four children, is a teacher’s aide at St. John the Baptist School in Waunakee.
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