Swallowed Up in Life

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed now we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 

Swallowed in Purpose

I am going to focus the next couple blogs on my journey “to be swallowed up by life.” I can’t explain this any better than the verse above; albeit loaded with symbolism and metaphors. We are born with human bodies, earthly dwellings like tents. The tents eventually decay and die, but in Christ we have opportunity to “put on a spiritual dwelling made by God." It's that new spirit or soul that can commune with God, now with purpose, and which eventually can reside with God in a new heavenly form. So, in my retirement days currently, I know eventually this broken body will be swallowed up in life, but why not find immense meaning and motivation on this side of heaven, swallowing up life myself? 

Hang on to Your Hat

I have been swallowed up by God’s goodness and life this summer; being overwhelmed by the precious love of family and friends I haven’t seen in ages and being immersed in the beauty of places, music, and summer experiences that simply shout LIFE. All of this while my body is slowly being swallowed up by the natural course of old age and Multiple Systems Atrophy. As a traveler on a road in retirement with a disease, I’m fully aware that my current course will continue until my earthly dwelling no longer sustains my spirit; upon which I will retire to a heavenly tent. Ok, before you fall asleep or roll your mind’s eyes at me, first thanks for listening and second hang to your hat because we are speeding down a summer road. 

Unanticipated Activity!

I guess I am simply testifying that God is OK with us living life to the fullest in whatever our given purpose. This particular stretch of highway has been difficult for me because my purpose has changed the last few years. I am pretty much now resolved to drive Chris crazy; on purpose. Ok, he allowed that joke but really, we all need to lean into God as our road changes direction and remember we have purpose; maybe if nothing else to glorify God by being swallowed up in HIS life. As a young college kid, I made a decision to trust God and “put on a new me” and go for it and Chris and I are doing exactly that in retirement. A bleak road of sitting at home immobile and bored has turned into a summer of unanticipated travel activity in my fathom-blue wheelchair van.

Music 

My summer of life swallowing included a week-long trip to my home state of Wisconsin and two shorter trips to Minnesota. All three of these trips oozed with relational connection and social events. Fresh in my life-swallowing mind is the latest Minnesota trip. My youngest son’s keyboard instructor organizes short concerts for them to test their skills in Northeast Minneapolis, and we’ve attended a couple concerts. He had a gig the end of August and we added a trip to our retirement road. The trip started as usual; us getting a late start, the van encountering traffic delays, and our normal rest area stoppage going longer than expected. We arrived seven hours later at the Hive Collaborative venue just as the last group of performers, Jane’s Addiction, was setting up. The music was great for a bunch of rookies, the crowd boisterous, and we celebrated the successful concert with cheeseburgers and root beer at a dive bar; during which we planned the next day’s adventure; the Minnesota State Fair or just “the Fair.” 

“The Fair”

I could summarize the Fair by simply saying we were not prepared and all our assumptions were wrong: 1-It was not less busy due to it being a school day (Monday) and Senior Day, 2-It did not have many airconditioned buildings, and 3-The accessible parking was not that accessible. We had solicited several relatives and websites for information before attending the Fair. That all fell apart when we got up, downed some oatmeal in our hotel, took care of medical stuff and at 10:30AM realized we didn’t heed the stern warning from everyone to get to the Accessible Parking lot by 6AM!

Pearly Gates

Maybe God’s grace stepped in, because we did manage to find a “free” parking lot for handicapped individuals where you could board a large WC bus and be delivered directly to Gate 9. I melted in my bubble-gum pink WC in 90-degree humid heat for only an hour and then Chris rolled me on to the large bus where staff methodically pinned my wheels to the floor. Another half-hour later we were loosed into the Fair. Entering Gate 9 was like entering the pearly gates, we were finally there! All joking aside, we were grateful for the parking and bus ride, especially since many others on that bus were far more handicapped than me, but just as excited to finally arrive!

Senior Day

At the gate, we proudly scanned in with our “discounted” Senior Day tickets; having saved two dollars each on admission. We found out later that Senior Day is actually a psychological marketing tool since every fairgoer will proudly spend over a hundred dollars alone on pronto pups, cider pops, corn fritters, Piggy Pals on Stick, and every form and seasoning of deep-fried cheese curds. The Fair was a great learning experience for us though, we learned that this year’s theme was, “Money Don’t Matter – It’s the Fair.” 

The Throng

We have attended fairs before, but the second we hit Como Avenue just inside the gate area it was like those scenes in Madrid, Spain of the running of the bulls where streets are packed sidewalk-to-sidewalk with thousands of crazed Spaniards running wildly ahead of and behind a herd of spooked and snorting bulls. Well, maybe that’s exaggerating a bit, but the throng of humanity, wandering animals, and horse-mounted police officers, made the next five hours simply unbelievable. Actual stats of this colossal event are staggering: a daily average attendance of 160,000 people, an annual attendance of nearly 2 million people, a one-day record of 260,000 people, and a gross revenue of $70-80 million each year, with about half that revenue from something deep-fried.

Fair Goals

But once there, we met all our “Fair” goals: the animal barn, glistening prancing horses pulling ornate wagons at the arena, shopping, international exhibits, Vietnamese iced tea, butter sculptures, outdoor music (in the shade), Martha’s cookies, Peachy’s donuts, Hmong corn dogs, pickle pizza, chicken on a stick, and of course cotton candy. And as it turned out, the long lines, wall-to-wall people, and insufferable heat were worth the experience of spending time with so much of God’s creation. We were so hot and sweaty by 5PM that we forgot we were hot and sweaty and found odd comfort knowing that the other 160,000 humans were in exactly the same condition. 

Making a Break for It

But the five o’ clock hour was clanging loud in our subconscious and all three of us decided we’d experienced enough “fair.” We said goodbye to our son who had arrived on a bicycle and headed for the handicapped bus lot. I saw a brief sparkle in Chris’s eyes though, and before I knew it, we were speeding away from that parking lot in my WC! As we sped along, his respiring got louder and he explained that rather than endure another hour or more taking the handicapped-person bus to our parking lot, we would just "wheelchair it" via sidewalks and overpass back to the van. Like some of the Fair performers he adeptly arranged our belongings in a WC tote bag while simultaneously propelling us down crummy walkways and through an industrial area. He tossed the cotton candy bag on my lap and explained that if the area got a little sketchy and we were accosted, I was to pitch the bag to the attacker, and we’d make a break for it! I wasn’t crazy about the strategy, but we did make it safe and sound back to the van. Life is similar that way, sometimes we simply have to trust God and make a break for it.

Swallowed Up in Life

Reflecting back on this adventure, I am amazed at God’s goodness in purpose; allowing me time and grace to be swallowed up by life in Christ. There may be some groaning here and there along the route, but the next realm according to the verse below is my real home; promised to be amazing.

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this [earthly] house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven . . . we groan, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5