Monday, December 06, 2004
THE “HAIRBALLS OF LIFE
I have a friend who refers to certain circumstances as “the hairballs of life”. This has proven a fitting description of many of the things that occur in life.
I guess you have to be a cat-lover-owner to understand that. If you’ve ever had a cat as we have, you know they wash themselves frequently. Periodically they cough up a ball of hair that has accumulated in their stomach, or wherever in their system. They don’t care where or when they cough these up. Nor do they care that someone else has to clean up after them. It isn’t a completely horrible or time-consuming job. It is just an interruption or inconvenience that isn’t particularly pleasant.
This describes a lot of what happens to us in life. The “hairballs of life” are not those catastrophic events of life, such as the life-threatening illnesses or injuries. They are not the loss of loved ones through death. “Hairballs of life” are not the separations or divorces that so devastate families. Nor are they the loss of friendships that have meant so much, or the loss of employment. They are not the painful separations caused by loved ones in the military who are serving in a foreign land far from family and friends. All these situations (and others like them) are real tragedies that come to us in life.
The “hairballs of life” are the flat tires, the mechanical failures of cars or other equipment. Or when somehow you lose a long e-mail you have just written but had not sent. They are the times when you lock your keys in the car (as I wrote about in a recent Post). You can supply your own list of “hairballs of life” that have come to you.
But if we aren’t careful, these “hairballs of life” can cause us to lose our joy and our spiritual equilibrium. They can cause us to curse God and life itself. They can be the cause of the separation of our fellowship with our God and with our fellowman because of how we choose to react to these “hairballs of life”.
The Apostle Paul said, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s Will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) I confess I don’t always give thanks for these “hairballs of life”. In fact, I seldom express either mentally or verbally any kind of thanksgiving for these events that come to me and aggravate me so much. But I should. So I guess a part of my prayer time should be, “Lord, help me to be thankful for the hairballs of life!”
Jim
posted by jim 1:20 PM 0 comments
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