Precarious

We have a small grouping of nutcrackers in our entryway. Yes, they are still there. And, no, we haven’t put the Christmas decorations away yet. We will. But why are you worried about it?

Anyway, you can tell by the picture that at this point, they are not particularly artfully arranged. You’ll see why as I tell this story.

See the frog? He was one of those items I saw in the store that was so ugly that I had to buy it. Most people didn’t feel that way. JC Penney’s still had about 100 of them when I brought froggie home. I’m just sure he dances in his spare time. Steve wasn’t with me when I bought him – he probably would have stopped me. “Kim, he’s not cute; he’s ugly.”

“I know he’s not cute. But he’s a dancing frog! I know he is. And he’s half price!”

Apparently yesterday evening (I missed this event – Steve saw it all), Froggie had lost his footing (maybe in some wild dance move while we were at church) and had fallen down. J saw him, and said, “The frog fell over. I’ll fix it.” So as he leans over to pick up the frog, his backpack (full of books for homework) swings around off his back and bowls into all of the nutcrackers, and he got a strike! Every one of them crashed to the ground.

Life is like that sometimes. There are unintended or unanticipated consequences to our actions. It’s hard for a 10 year old to predict the future, and sometimes it’s just as hard for us adults to make decisions which take into account future consequences.

Could it be that that is one of the benefits of prayer and the resulting relationship with God? I’m sure that it is. According to Philip Yancey, in the book Prayer, the word prayer is related to the word precarious. Aren’t we often in precarious positions? When the outcome is uncertain? When we feel a little lost and unable to predict the future?

I would never have known this, but JtM looked up precarious today, and the first definition is “depending on the will or pleasure of another.” Prayer. It certainly functions as a means of communication with our creator. Here we are, in the world, and perhaps it’s when we realize that we are dependant upon the will or pleasure of God, that prayer becomes that very necessary vehicle of communication. Perhaps then it becomes the way that God can give us guidance through the unanticipated and unexpected consequences of what we do.