THINKING ABOUT THE BOX

September 18, 2004

We’ve been in Santa Fe going on a few months now. Long enough for it to start to feel like home. Long enough to have family and friends stop by and long enough to get most of the boxes unpacked. We’ve recycled a huge pile of boxes, but we’re keeping a few bankers’ boxes.

Folding them back to a flat piece of cardboard involves a trick. It’s the reverse of setting it up, of course, but I don’t always remember and have to rethink it through. It’s not flap B and C; it’s flap A first etc. etc. Eventually I recall the trick and get the box flat again. If you know the procedure, it works. Otherwise it’s just another box for recycling.

Life is like that. We’ve read God’s manual, the Bible, a few times. It’s full of stories about how men and women tried flap C and it didn’t work as God intended. He’s the creator. He’s the designer and he’s given us the manual. I’ve seen how it works for me. First flap A. His way. The rest follows.