Let me briefly tell you about Karla. Karla is my physical therapist. During the first week of this past June I spent eight hours in a kayak class. The class was going to be sixteen hours, but I did not make the second day. In addition to all I learned in that first day, I also received the bargain of a “tennis elbow!” My general practitioner gave me a cordizon shot which did absolutely no good, thankfully. I asked to see a specialist who gave me a prescription to see a physical therapist and that is where Karla comes in, nearly four months later.
Karla has a doctorate in physical therapy plus a three year residency and she,,, is… GOOD! Karla also is a kayaker so my goal, with her direction, is not simply to heal my tennis elbow, but to deal with all the issues which created it in the first place. My kayak instructor showed me what I might have done wrong in holding my paddle, but the reality is that my body is a very complicated, intricately, intertwined unit. Karla is working with all the muscles, tendons, etc that need to work together so that I can kayak, not just tomorrow, but for years to come.
With all of this I have pondered and also prayed about goals. My general practitioner and even the sports doctor had the goal of healing my elbow. Karla helped me see that I could have a bigger goal of being able to kayak now and in the future with my body working effectively. I am glad that kayaking is not the only goal in my life though.
I have the goal of building a home in Sequim, but I have a bigger goal than simply building a house. I have a goal of having a home of hospitality, contemplative prayer and service to others. That is a bigger goal than simply having a house. The house is the shell, the outer trappings for what I want to see happen in the house.
Now here is the challenge, where my primary, my over-arching goal supersedes all my other goals. If the goal of building my house and even the goal of the purpose of the house were my primary goals, then I would have cataclysmic problems. See, I want my goals to be accomplished NOW and they are NOT! The snail pace of accomplishing my goals surrounding the building of my house might lead to frustration, to impatience, to anger, to anxiety, to ulcers, to a heart attack. Who knows what a snail pace of goal accomplishment might lead to
But, and this word BUT is very important, I have another goal, a primary goal which over-rides all other goals. I have a goal that God might create in me the person that he desires, my true self in Christ, my new being and God uses EVERYTHING in my life to accomplish that major goal. Snail pace construction might be God’s hammer and chisel to smooth out my rough edges, to create within me a person of trust and serenity. I believe that which happens in my daily life are the building blocks, the tools in the hands of my Master Craftsman to construct in me the person he desires, and I know that this primary goal is a life-long goal, not a quick, temporary achievement. Therefore, I am able to say “Thank you” and to surrender the moment into the Master’s hands.