I have recently noticed that the ink in the print cartridges of my printer tends to run at the most critically inopportune moments.
It always seems to be that it is exactly when I need to print some document, like this newsletter, that the ink runs out. Not just before, not just after, but right in the middle. I cannot tell you how many frantic trips I’ve made to the department store to get another cartridge. I usually keep a spare, but a number of times I’ve been caught unprepared.
I’ve been ruminating about this today and started thinking that if I run out of gas in the car or lawnmower; it tends to be at an inconvenient time. Then I realized that it is basically impossible to run out of something conveniently. Running out of something virtually requires it to be inconveniently timed or else you didn’t really run out, you just perhaps ran low, because you already had more ink, more gas, more milk, more bread or what have you, in your possession.
This said, it reveals that running out may be inconvenient, but that it is mostly avoidable. Like running out of patience, running out of grace, running out of mercy or compassion. We alone decide the levels of these things in our daily lives. We ultimately determine to be out of patience, or to dig a little deeper to find, even create some more of it. We can say that our patience is running thin, but we can also determine to have more. We can become frustrated or perhaps feel overwhelmed by life and its circumstances, but we alone can decide how much grace we are willing to extend or how much mercy we’re willing to show. No one else can determine our reserves of love and compassion for others or how kind we will be…or not be.
The point of our faith is to believe in the power of forgiveness and love and to grow in this belief, this faith, to the point where we never run out of our reserves of these precious and meaningful commodities.
The final “end game” of faith is to learn how to grow ourselves in those things which are of the character of our Savior. It is a lifelong process and will ultimately produce the difference of becoming a bitter and contentious old man/woman, who is disappointed and disgusted with the world and its inhabitants, or a kind and benevolent older person who adds smiles and peacefulness to the world around them.
Blessings and Shalom!

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