muddied parcels

Speaking to a fellow church mate this other day set me thinking: we seem to ask a lot from God but we do not avail ourselves to receive from Him in the manner He deems good for us. We seem so obsessed with our stresses such that when we get answers we throw them out with the trash and continue gazing at the sky for God to come through for us.

I witnessed my daughter being born. At birth she was this tiny slippery, bloodied fragile little thing that needed tender hands and a midwife’s ability to severe the umbilical cord. 30 minutes later, courtesy of the nurses’ swabs and stuff, she was swathed in a baby towel and was this little adorable thing that was calmly sucking its thumb oblivious to the joy and happiness around her. She has since grown to be a strap ling little lady who never forgets promises and intelligently converses with ease. From a little fragile bundle she has grown to be a source of joy and inspiration to me.

Those in the know of extracting alluvial minerals will tell you that what comes from the earth are tonnes and tonnes of ore which is sluiced with water to wash away impurities and leave the diamonds in the open for picking, sifting and sorting. It is only after the mud has washed off that one can spot a diamond. With the clods of earth the wonderful jewels just remain mere pieces of earth but after the mud is gone the carats then glitter. Such are the lessons of life.

What ails most of us is that we cannot wait for the mud to wash off. We seek to cook and chew the meat without rinsing the abattoir soil off it and needless to say the result is a lot of cracked teeth and rebelling tummies. What ails most of us is that we will not accept to drive a spluttering jalopy but instead hold out for an impossible heaven on wheels. What we fail to realize is that the lessons of running the jalopy will make you appreciate the regal beauty of a classic car. One can only appreciate the pull and strength of a Mercedes engine when they have driven a spluttering Datsun 120Y!

I am convinced that many of us have received the answers to our prayers. I am convinced that packaged answers are right with us but the problem is that we are worrying more about the wrapper than the contents and hence we miss the point. A muddied parcel does not alter the value of the contents. It only calls for your patience in peeling away the masks patiently and allowing the real jewels to bloom in the sunshine of your heart.

I am convinced that all the parcels that we discarded sulking because the wrappers were muddy do not actually contain mud but jewels that need your effort in making them shine.

As the sun rises tomorrow please look back, retrieve all the muddy parcels, un-wrap them patiently and allow the blooms to shine and the carats to glitter.