This one might need a bit more editing. But I need to go to bed :).
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The
Pink Room: Thoughts About Intentional Living
Chapter
14/ Beauty from Ashes and Singleness.
Part
3 (Previous post contain the previous chapters.)
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Singleness gets complicated
sometimes. When new people are in the mix it can get confusing. One night Lisa
and Dan invited me over. That night they invited a guest I didn’t know and I
invited a guest they didn’t know. Neither of us confirmed with the people if
the guests were actually coming. We sat at their dining room table and began
talking. Laughter and snacks--time passed we didn’t think much of it. The doorbell
rang. We just waved the people in figuring they’d find their place but they
awkwardly stood in the doorway of the kitchen instead. I assumed they knew Lisa,
and Lisa assumed they knew me. We both kept on talking. One of the guys
interrupted and asked if this was “Jason’s party.” We all, all five of us, were
stopped in our tracks.
Lisa said, “nooooooooo.” And I looked at her quizzically. She returned
the same look.
I said, “Wait, you don’t know them?”
Pointing at Lisa--my eyebrows shifted down and I squinted at her.
“You, don’t know them?” She replied.
We pointed at each other. We looked at them and back at eachother.
The two guys excused themselves
quickly after that. Muttering something about leaving and wrong house and party
not being at this address, it was difficult to hear what they were saying. And they
headed across the street, they informed us that the cars must be for that house
pointing out the door—backing out of the house. And we laughed and laughed. I
was very glad that they seemed like relatively decent people.
Lisa and Dan would get ideas here
and there. We spent one Christmas season exploring the possibility of “deer
tipping.” City-dwellers version of Christmas season cow tipping, I suppose. I
don’t think we were ever courageous enough to finish any tipping, deep down we
all thought it was mean and didn’t want to do it. But we talked a great deal
about it for a couple years.
We should have been born in the
60-70s and done “happenings” as art events. We would have had a following for
sure.
I sometimes wonder what makes an
artist famous. A combination of being prepared at the right time, and having a
great example of work, in the movement, they are in—which is doubly difficult
seeing most movements aren’t identified until they are complete. For those
alive, often quirkiness or sense of humor lend a hand. I think singleness is
sort of like being a starving artist. There is all this unexplored potential,
and a wide range of possibilities—there is uncharted future. Artists discover
what they are to create next and I have imagined that discovery is a lot like
finding a spouse. But I hope I’m not famous after I’m dead. That is where the
metaphor breaks down—I also hope to find a spouse before I’m dead.
In
many ways there is a theme of beautiful messes in my life, and making the best
of hard situations. It is turning ashes of something hoped for or devastation
and finding something useful in it, turning it into something beautiful and
redeemed. I see that all around me. I see that people can claim parts of their
story for another purpose, something to help others.
My
friend’s brother had a five year old that passed away. They did that very
thing. His wife started a grief support group and they raise money, with a
walk-run, to support nonprofits. Talk about turning devastation into something
beautiful. The story is widely known and has touched many lives in a
significant way.
No
matter what happens in life, we need to remember this is not a dress rehearsal.
We get one shot. We may as well keep people guessing but better yet, we may as
well make beauty from messes (or ashes.)
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I used to believe I made art, now I know I am a partner
in creating. Just like I create something, God created the world and then He
did the unthinkable—He humbled Himself and entered his artwork. That is the
craziest thing that has ever occurred to me. I can’t imagine entering one of my
paintings and not sure I’d be courageous enough to do so. But in another way,
daily I’m creating this life alongside of God.
Life
has taken so many unexpected turns with me. It seems like cliché but when you
have no idea what God is doing, waiting for Him to open doors, then it is
important to praise God in the hallway.
