The Big Picture

I have been trying to clean up my computer. It is getting old and as the new computer salesman predicted, it runs slower and slower. I know one reason why. I have too many photos stored on it: more than 101,000. I've been trying to copy them to a memory stick but the job seems impossibly long. It seems that what I end up doing is doubling the number of images. I need to delete as I go but I'm nervous. Ridiculous, isn't it?

Can you imagine being the persons who first gathered the books of the Bible together? Did they realize what they were working on? Or how many people would read their final work of art? I'm so thankful that these people were not overwhelmed by the task.

Sometimes we look at the big picture and are able to understand things better. That is the way it is with life. Looking back over the entirety of my life, I am able to see things I didn't realize when I was in the moment. I can see how things happened for a reason - all by God's plan for my life. Some things I will never understand until this life is over, perhaps.

Sometimes it is better to look closely at each piece of the puzzle. If we don't look at the pieces individually we can't match the colors, the purpose, the reasons, the details of each day. Every little thing that happens in our lives eventually fits into a perfect picture. Like a quilt, until the pieces are sewn together, the pattern isn't revealed.

"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me. We are intimately linked in this harvest work... This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing." (Matthew 10:39-42, The Message).

Perhaps today I will begin deleting the photos I've copied from my hard drive. They are only pictures.
If there weren't any pictures, I could always use words to reflect on the past. Or are words more powerful than pictures?

Today creates a thousand images that fit into your life story.