Connecting the Dots

I recently read an article about Steve Jobs in our local newspaper. The article was a reprint of a graduation commencement address he gave at a college. Buried deep within the text of that address was a thought that resonates deep within me. Steve made the point that it requires perspective to ‘connect the dots’ in life. I think his specific statement was that you can’t connect the lines looking forward, into the future. You can only connect the dots of your life when you look back and see how life’s events have fit together into the whole.

I am not aware if Steve was a particularly religious man. But, I think his comments mimic the experience of a believer in living a life of faith.

The older I get the more I have come to appreciate this perspective. Perhaps the only small tweak I would add to this idea is that when you take enough time to look back you start to discover the big picture of your life and can almost discern the shapes and sizes of the remaining pieces. Or at least we think we can.

Thanksgiving is a time for retrospection; for surveying the past and giving thanks. It’s fast coming upon us again. I am particularly looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving week because we are going to spend it with family and friends on vacation. I am already dreaming of all the fun and relaxing times we’ll have together.

That word ‘together’ carries more weight the older I get. I’ve now been together with Julie and her family much longer than I was not-together with her. I’ve now maintained lifetime friendships in which I’ve been together far longer than not-together. I’ve now approached life together with my children for longer than our being not-together (at least with Joel). This aspect of remaining in community for long periods of time carries more weight in my thinking now. When you decide to continue in relationship you have decided to be known by people. It is difficult to maintain a charade for years. Decades. It just isn’t possible. Your failures will become known. Your shortcomings will emerge. Those things you simply wish people didn’t know about you will become known and remembered. You will be exposed for who you are.

And then this glorious truth emerges that can only be found from prolonged togetherness. You realize at some point that you are accepted. This acceptance is a true acceptance; not one born of lack of knowlege or a sense of tolerance. Not one due to deception and hiding of flaws. Instead, this is the acceptance that accompanies being known – flaws and all.

This is a God Thing. Acceptance is a two part deal. There’s the part where acceptance is offered by someone. And, there’s the part where you have to accept it. Acceptance is as much about our ability to receive it as it is about whoever is willing to offer it. Interestingly, it seems much easier to accept when we practice offering it to others. By giving acceptance to someone we recognize has flaws just like us – we practice the thought process that allows us to forgive ourselves our flaws and receive acceptance from others.

Now, my family and friends have far fewer and less severe flaws than I do – so I’ve not gotten as much practice giving as receiving. But, I’ve at least had enough to be extremely thankful to God for opportunities to experience and share togetherness. And, I’ve given and received enough acceptance to know how much God has to offer to me to cover my sins. It truly is an awe inspiring thought.

You see, when you look back – the dots you connect are not all the dirt paths and smooth roads of our own making. Instead, you see the chasms that required God’s incredible bridge between sin and forgiveness to make the dots of our paths connect.