In overseeing the preparations for the bakery, choosing the countertops has been the most agonizing thing (haha). From choosing THE ‘MOST PERFECT’ DESIGN,
to measuring out the exact length that is needed,
to ordering the exact size and having to decide with pre-made ones,
to having to measure the required pieces of the pre-made piece,
and then sawing it out and chiseling away the rough edges…
We are much like these countertops. Imperfect in design and size yet for some reason, the Maker – Our Father – chooses to bear patience in His design in us. Over the years, He has been measuring me out of what has previously shaped me in my ignorance and arrogance of Him. He has been sawing away those imperfections and chiseling away the rough edges. He has been removing all that is unnecessary, and keeping only what is needed in His perfect will, in works with my free will to submit to this design.
The thing is, like building up a bakery, it’s easy to carry hope in the vision of what it will become, but the process of getting there can be very tiresome and painful. The chiseling away and sawing off of all that is unnecessary can be very painful, hurtful, frustrating, sometimes in immeasurable lengths. But that is what has brought upon the beauty of God’s design through the cross.
The chiseling away may take time and a lot of patience, humility, trust, and perseverance, BUT through Love, the finished piece is always the most liberating and beautiful thing – NOT BECAUSE OF THE DESIGN – but because of the journey.
What I have come to see through the years is that despite of what we become, there is a design that God so excitedly awaits to chisel away in us. And even after our submission, it isn’t easy. When the process is ‘done’, it might not be the most perfect thing to someone else, but
Perfection lives within the Maker.
It is not so much about the design, but about Who the Artist was behind it all. Like most other artists (i.e. Michaelangelo, Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, Warhol, etc), most people won’t necessarily know every exact art piece that was created by them – only a namely few ever could. But what is remembered is that the artist has brought extra ordinary amount of beauty to life, and the artist is forever known.
May God be forever known through His design in us, in our acceptance of His will, our perseverance in good faith, and in hope of True Beauty despite the pains of the chiseling and sawing away, Amen.
In You, I trust.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
TOTUS TUUS.