Observations: 1) Loaded camels

Good evening! Welcome to this chapter of this blog. Please come right in and make yourself at home. I'm serving finger sandwiches and cookies along with some other light refreshments tonight. So, have a seat and make yourself comfortable while snacking and reading. I'm glad you're here.
I know you're all thinking at this juncture, 'what a funny title'. Well....I do admit that at first glance it is a funny title. However, I ask your indulgence until you finish reading. I'm betting at that point it will be a bit more clear.
This chapter isn't actually about camels, except metaphorically. I'm sure you've all heard the old expression "The straw that broke the camel's back", right? If not, a quick explanation is in order. For those that have heard it please bear with me for a moment. It's in reference to a camel whose back is loaded with straw. As it stands, straw is continually loaded on it's back, until the point that it's loaded with the maximum load it can stand. Then finally, someone puts one more small straw on the stack and it's the final weight that breaks the back of the camel. OK, end of explanation and on to the point. In retrospect of the life of the author of this blog and having watched for many years the lives and behaviors of other people I've come to the conclusion that many times we're all like that proverbial camel. Standing and walking through life, constantly having people and circumstances adding to the load that we consistently carry around. A point or two about that and a few suggestions about how to cope with it. Point one is....the adding of the straw to the back of the camel is done so slowly and gradually that the camel, in the short term, doesn't realize that the added weight (or stress) is there. It's not until much time as gone by that it can identify that something has indeed changed and the going is harder. Point two....since we're 'supposed' to carry the load and cope with life while carrying the load, we assume that it's 'normal' to be that burdened. Actually, it's not 'normal' to be constantly carrying that much stress around with us all the time. While we come to see ourselves as 'beasts of burden' with all the stress we're under, we can deal more effectively with it. There is, indeed, a better way to live. Point three....it can be very discouraging, while we stagger around under the load we carry, to see others look at us from time to time and then walk away. Whether they don't see or don't care, the result is the same. So, we continue walking around in our lives, struggling to maintain our walk and composure, and all the while being loaded with one more straw at a time. Suddenly we realize "hey, this is getting too heavy". However we continue walking and plodding along wondering when the final devastating straw will be added. A suggestion is in order here, don't you think? Suggestion one....Look to God and seek help from Him. He is the source that never fails us. Prayer! Suggestion two....Look around you as you walk, and find someone whose load is heavier than yours. Do this in order to offer encouragement and hope, and even offer to carry a bit of their load. I know it sounds weird but doing that will actually make your and their loads easier and lighter. So, my fellow camels, on a final note of encouragement from a camel who's back has been broken and been mended by the God of heaven, look up and take heart. You can do it! .........And so it goes.........

Revealing the Quest..........

Good morning all. Yes, you read that right. It is early morning and I'm up late. Well, later than usual. I have to get to bed very soon so I can go to Church this morning. OK, enough of the excuses, right? Pull up a chair and relax as you read this as I attempt to give the answer that I promised. I have to say here, that some came very close to the answer.
'The quest' in question in this blog is the search that we've all undertaken in order to find an answer. I know that in my life I've asked the "W" question many, many times. The "W" question being 'why'. I ask the question many times for every friend I lost in Vietnam. I ask the question many times when my wife began changing. I ask the question many times when I was told that I had cancer. I ask the question many times when I began recovering from a horrific car accident. Probably several thousand times over the course of time. In all of that time and after all of that asking I never got an answer to those questions. I have given that much thought and have come to some, what I believe, are right and healthy conclusions. Conclusion one: for us to know those answers would mean that we could know the future and that is not something that God has given us the ability to do. We can barely handle the past, what makes us think that we could handle the future. That would make us not need or want a relationship with God. Conclusion two: If we knew the answer to all of those "why's" we would have the wisdom of God, and again, not need or want a relationship with Him. Conclusion three: Knowing the answers would make us proud and haughty, and once again, we would try putting ourselves on the same level as God, thus not wanting or needing Him. Conclusion four: Knowing those answers would make us not seek the will of God in our lives and not search for the presence of God. Conclusion five: Knowing those answers would destroy our faith, simply because we wouldn't need it. We'd feel ourselves to be sufficient unto ourselves, right? Having realized these things I decided that we understand what we can, after that Faith takes over. We have to walk through life not knowing the answers but knowing that God does. That, beloved friends, is what I call "tough faith". Tough because we're scared. Tough because each step we take is uncertain. Tough because trusting is the hardest thing to do at that point. Tough sometime because our heart is anguished with pain and grief and loss. Tough sometime because we're squarely facing our own mortality and the reality of possible death. There are many reasons to ask why but only one basic reason to accept not having an answer. Because our God wills it so and we love and trust Him. OK, I'll conclude beloved friends, so you can comment by whatever means you chose. Please feel free to agree or disagree, in part or in whole, to whatever degree you that you do. Another chapter soon. .........And so it is...........