Cool Hand Luke

In all seriousness, I did finish The Killer Angels that day. I was fighting back tears as I read the epilogue detailing what each of the generals went on to accomplish—if they lived on. I could not get my mind out of the book even when the lunch rush came and the book was finished. I really did feel like I was bracing for battle. I just wanted peace to process this huge part of our country’s history, but I was bombarded with bankers wanting soup and a half sandwich.

It hit me then how trivial my job is; how trivial cups of coffee and pastries are. Everyday somewhere people are fighting and dying and everyday someone gets upset with me because we’re all out of orange croissants.

I’ve prayed and I’ve asked God what it all means? Not just that day. Many days.  Why are some jobs so important and others aren’t. Why do some people get paid for things they are passionate about while others get paid hardly anything for doing a hard job so they can afford to do the thing they are passionate about? Why do some people’s lives consist of survival and others’ consist of achieving a greater level of comfort? Where do I actually fall in that spectrum?

And His answer?  I think it goes something like this: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  I don’t think God cares as much about our vocation as we do. Some of us will be generals, some of us will be slaves, and some of us will serve coffee and pastries. Whatever our lot in life, the best thing we can do is serve as if we are serving the Lord and not men. If we can help improve someone else’s lot in life, I think we should.
 
Does that mean we go to war for them?
I really don’t know.
Our war is not against flesh and blood, right?

All I do know is that it’s hard enough for me to abide in Christ without solving someone else’s problems. A man can’t bear to wait two minutes for his skinny latte. I can’t bear to be torn away from my book. Somewhere people are being killed for something they believe in. Somewhere else people are dying for something their nation’s leaders believe in. It’s so hard for us to see beyond our limited perspective. At the end of the day, if I can think about Jesus and how Jesus would treat you while I’m serving you your pastry, I see that as a victory. That’s more powerful than the Union battery.
 
When I’m out of my current situation and God has moved Brandy and I onto the next thing, we’ll be able to see more of God’s hand in all of this. Just like we understand wars better twenty years, or a hundred and fifty years after they were fought.  I’m learning.

How did I get from a road trip, to a novel, to a coffee shop, to the pondering of life’s deepest questions? Well, I think everything is always pointing that way to begin with. Rather, everything is always pointing to the answer of life’s deepest questions. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Answer. The Reason. The End.