Snowflakes not turning into Circles and other Mishaps

Can there be any glory at all in stumbling, in things not going as planned, in mess ups?  This has been the pressing question on my mind over the past few days, because I’ve been in the midst of some of the above and have felt, well, kind of de-railed from what it was I thought I was doing.

With so many eyes on Sochi now, we’re ready to be thrilled by the magnificence of athletic displays….and to gasp with sympathy, let’s hope not with any delight, at the inevitable mishaps.

It didn’t take long for the first one to happen. Right in the Opening Ceremonies, apparently, one of the five Olympic rings failed to transform itself from a snowflake into a ring, almost as if it were a sullen teenager reluctant to change into proper clothes for the party. Never mind the fact that it was totally amazing any of the snowflakes changed shape – or that there were tremendous glittering snowflakes up there in the dark sky at all—the fact that just one of them didn’t do what it was supposed to was the big news story.

Did you hear, too, that Russian TV made it all seem fine? Those people would do anything to make sure President Putin saw what he needed to see, presumably so that nobody’s head would roll. Read about it here. The official word was, ”Producers confirmed the switch, saying it was important to preserve the imagery of the Olympic symbols.” Certain things are sacrosanct — mess with them at your peril.

What has any of this, happening on a faraway continent, got to do with me and my own minor mishaps? I’m glad you asked. But first allow me to put on my pastor’s wife hat. I’m sure it’s in some closet around here somewhere.

Being a pastor’s (OK, bishop’s) wife, I get to take in a fair amount about how churches are seeing themselves these days and what kinds of messages they’re trying to put out there. Besides talking to my own husband about it, I can sometimes read newsletters and magazines that he brings home and – once in a while – listen to what others say about envisioning the future. One thing is pretty clear: the road ahead is going to look a whole lot different than the road a few miles back.

Anyway, there’s a lot of discussion about “God’s mission” and doing things like “going into the broken places” and “restoring and reconciling.” This is all as it should be; I support it wholeheartedly and even want to be a part of it, in my own way.

The only thing is, I have weeks when I’m pretty much just confounded by how to deal with all the regular daily mishaps that crop up most every day. That is to say, sometimes I’m facing just literal brokenness in one way or another; focusing only on restoring – say – the way my desk used to look when I could find things or the way my car used to look before it got into a little episode. Perhaps I’m just pathetic, or perhaps (and this is what I admit to hoping) you join me in this kind of existence, not without its own set of glories if we can just grab hold of them.

Maybe we ought to pause here and just savor the word “mishap.” Don’t you just love the sound of it, for starters?  Completely lacking in any grace, just like the experience itself. It pleases me about as much as another two syllable word (usually indicating damage in a higher degree, however) beginning with “m” –“mayhem.”  Generally defined as an “unlucky happening” a mishap can run the gamut between a harmless little spill to unintended hurtful words to life-threatening accident. In that, as far as I can tell, much of life slips out of our control, the word can really come in handy.

Not that it ever actually becomes fun when a snowflake doesn’t become a ring on cue or anything.

Just over the course of the past several days, I’ve been involved to some extent in a number of mishaps. To save time, I’ll just describe two here.

The most harmless, I’ll even say amusing one, was the tube of toothpaste standing up in a pond of green:

Do I have any memory of not closing that tube properly? No, I don’t.

Second, there was the case of the car losing its front bumper for no apparent reason.

There I was, intent on getting my friend to her appointed ride downtown, just putting the car in reverse to exit the garage. Perhaps the person who had put the car in the garage the night before, however, had pulled it closer than usual to the side, because apparently something caught on something and then suddenly each side of silver plastic came undone and was just flapping in the wind. This was a case of – and I know you’ve had something like this too – a few mysterious seconds changing the course of the rest of a day. A complete and utter mishap, the kind that necessitates talking to insurance people who ask a whole lot of questions and then make sure to urge you to have a splendid day. All the while, you have to try really hard not to dwell on the fact that you were in fact intending to get something half creative done until this happened.

Years ago, I was at a dinner party when the hostess brought in a cake for dessert that had, somehow, kind of collapsed and was all on one side. No one knew what to say, until her son broke the tension with, “Thank GOD no one was hurt!”  Mishaps are kind of like that – so long as no one is really hurt, we can usually dust ourselves off and go on trying to make things right. And even when someone is in fact hurt, we have to find ways to heal and go forward.

I’m not sure I can find anything resembling a mission in this daily business. Seeing the humor in it, whenever that’s possible, sure does help. Being able to shrug stuff off when we can, keep our minds focused on what matters more, go for the greater good — this all brings us closer to heaven, perhaps. Or at least just makes us more pleasant companions to have around the house. In the case of my car losing its bumper, I will have the fresh memory of a wonderful visit with an old friend – not in the category of mishap at all – to provide sustenance through the days of repair.  Hallelujah for that.