G
od finds ways to keep us humble. Yesterday, while attempting to fix a minor carpentry job I had started, I extended my router bit too far out of the axel, and when I turned the machine on, it worked its way up to 20,000 RPM, and slingshot the sharp bit out across the room. It bounced off a baseboard heater and struck me in the lip and cheek.
I walked away with extremely minor injuries -- a swollen lip, a lightly chipped tooth, and a small cut on my cheekbone. I could just as easily have been missing an eye. With injuries that happen that fast, it almost never hurts at first. You blink at the impact and think to yourself "Maybe it wasn't so bad." Then the deep horror of one's own mutilated body creeps in as you investigate and find out what the actual damage was. Tongueing a piece of tooth around my mouth wasn't particularly fun, and I was mightily embarrassed, but it was nothing compared to when I gashed open the back of my hand falling through a window. I remember squeezing my hand into a fist, and not being able to raise my fingers back out straight. I remember my entire mind trying to pull away from thinking about it, and the instant onset of nausea.
We can't rely much of anything for certain in this world. If your happiness depends on anything other the Rock of creation, you're going to be disappointed at some point. We are called to radical humility, and I'm feeling pretty humble right now with a big band-aid across my face.