One of my favorite cartoons related to parent teacher interviews includes the comment about a student's abilities: "I can't believe he's the one in 50 million to make it."
Our rarity is perhaps understood better in smaller measures. Hamlet said, "To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man pick'd out of ten thousand" (Act II, Scene ii). That still puts you somewhere above the ninety-ninth percentile in uniqueness.
What is more important than our matchless qualities is how we choose to use our talents. Elvis Presley said, "You only pass through life once. You don't come back for an encore."
Having God in your wheelhouse makes the impossible easier to tackle. The metaphor of a wheelhouse is perhaps not clear to us prairie dwellers. "Our area of expertise" is what I understood it to mean. The image of a wheelhouse gives us more.
A wheelhouse is the room in a ship from which the captain steers the vessel. Because of its location the room provides excellent vision of the path the ship is traveling. As we chart our life's course we would do well to travel with the Lord daily.
You have all seen the baseball player or sports figure who makes the sign of the cross before facing the physical challenge. Then there is the acknowledgment of thanks to God after the victory. The Orthodox even sign themselves three times, making a more pronounced gesture of faith.
God is with us on our journey whether we recognize it or not. How much more effective and successful we can be if we cultivate the creator's power and strength within us. With God's help we can make gold.
An example springs to mind from this year's American Idol contest. Jena Irena sang Elvis Presley's "Can't help falling in love". She literally remade the King's song and did it so successfully that you could see the shock on the judges like Jennifer Lopez. Jena Irena, a seventeen year old, transformed the song with such artistic verve that a shock wave struck us.
After replaying the event several times, I could more fully appreciate what she had done. As Lopez said, no one in her years with Idol has done what Irena did.
God's power within us can make possible the full use of our creativity and artistic flair. Everyone has unique talents. We need to develop these and we need to be able to risk using them in life's situations.
Jena Irene left the judges groping for expletives, some of which were deleted. I do not know Jena Irene well enough to know whether she is aware of her Divine travel companion, but I do know the creator is working through her to create marvelous things.
Knowing about God makes all the difference. We should make God's acquaintance in this world, since God is our eternal destiny. It is like falling in love with your spouse before you marry. It's just much sweeter that way!
In "There Is A Beauty At The Goal Of Life" Archibald Lampman talks about a beauty that grows with us as we mature. We listen and keep watch until we discern "the tide of sovereign truth that guides it all". And then we contribute our light to make the great light stronger.
"To have done this is to have lived", though fame remember us not.
