This, Our Valley: When cranky windows open hearts

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Helen Keller

My wife and I drove to Spokane a few weeks ago to help lay to rest a long-time friend of ours. She had asked for me to conduct the graveside service for her and her family, and I was only too honored to do that for them. She was a special lady.

The weather in Spokane was hot and steamy, so I rolled down the windows to our truck when we got to the cemetery and parked. When we were finished, we got back into the truck and as we got ready to join the family for a light lunch afterwards, the truck’s windows wouldn’t roll back up!

I say “roll” as if that’s what they do. The truck has power windows; the windows go up or down at the push or pull of a switch. None of the switches were working. The irony was not lost on me that they had died at the cemetery. I uttered a quick little prayer, but the only answer I got in return was a passage from the Bible where it is written, “He (God) will raise them up at the last day.”

Ah, so now God is a comedian, eh?

Fortunately, while God was cracking jokes in that crack-a-doodle space laughingly called my brain, he saw to it one of the family members had the wherewithal to fix the issue. Our friend saw we were having problems, came over, and played around with the switches, wiggling jiggling and manipulating them all willy-nilly until, one-by-one, each window was returned to its full and upright position. Whew!

I did not work the windows the rest of the trip, which was otherwise pretty uneventful. When we got home a few days later, a package was sitting on the front porch: a set of replacement window switches, courtesy of our son (upon whom I had laid the burden of my tale). It took me about fifteen minutes to swap out the switches, and everything is now as good as new.

I don’t know if people appreciate just how wonderful it is to have a problem and find relative strangers ready, willing, and able to help at the drop of a hat. Perhaps they did it because I am clergy or a friend of the family, but I suspect they would have offered the same help to anyone facing the same problem. Some people are simply born helpers.

I have no doubt that I could have jiggled and played with the window switches when they wouldn’t work, and maybe I would have had the same success – or maybe not. Letting go (of my ego) allowed God to work through someone else, and that’s OK. God often works better through the laity than through the clergy – better through amateurs than through professionals. Remember, an amateur built the Ark, while professionals built the Titanic.

I should also note that my “quick work” replacing the window switch assembly had little to do with my innate mechanical skills or understanding of how cars and trucks are put together. I went on YouTube and watched a total stranger show me how to do exactly what I needed to do, step by step. 

 
While we may decry all the stupid stuff we find online (ice bucket challenges, dancing teeny-boppers, and things one cannot unsee once they’ve been seen), the fact is that many people post videos to show the rest of us slobs just how to do things we don’t know how to do ourselves. 

They are truly angels who entertain us, often unaware of their own divine nature(s)!

There is an old saying that suffering is inevitable, but misery’s a choice. A problem shared is a problem halved. I think our world would be a lot more pleasant if we took those truths to heart and found ways to help one another when any are facing adversity. I’ve never regretted being nice. Never.

 
It seems a cliche, but it is so nice when people work together to fix problems rather than fighting with one another while fixing blame. I prefer to look for and find solutions. Let’s not wait for God to raise them up for us here in this, our valley. By then it may be too late!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)