23
How do we balance material needs with spiritual aspirations?
THE CHAOS CHALLENGE
We found ourselves in an unfamiliar city,
Required to navigate to an obscure address
Which our car’s app said did not exist.
We were hungry, tired, and longing for home,
But earthly responsibilities required this pilgrimage
So we set sail in a leaky ship with an illegible map.Our deadline approached 12:35 precisely
A delay at the drive-thru, a suspicious bank teller,
And wrong turns purloined the time.
Shipwrecked in this uncooperative town
Late, embarrassed, fuming, Blaming, ranting, and lost.
With our executive functions nowhere in sight.
We took one deep, clear breath to recenter.
An apologetic phone call later, we'd bought more time.
Quick, before the next disaster, we decicded to regroup.
Our misfortune reimagined as a sacred game -"The Chaos Challenge”
We’d count the solved hurdles like beads on a rosary.Blocked by a truck on the railroad tracks, detour,
Backtracking our bad decisions,
A timid driver followed by a parade of angry drivers inching along
A second humiliating call to apologize
But somehow we were still laughing and bumbling our way
Twenty-four little hurdles were our teachers, we arrived victorious.Within each tangled plight lies opportunity
A chance to turn frustration into presence,
Resentment into gratitude,
Impatience into compassion
Shame into joy
Life is a video game: with but one way to prevail
There is no escape from chaos,
But it can be balanced by elevating the moment
This is the alchemy of everyday grace:
To bear darkness while seeking light