Moving Forward in Ways Not Obvious

I've been working in New York City for the past nine years and one of the things that I can always look forward to around this time of year is the construction of The Pond at Bryant Park. It starts with the green being covered with platforms which will eventually form the walking area and the ice rink and before soon, small stores are constructed around the periphery of the park selling a variety of unique gifts, handicrafts and finger food. Every year in November and December I've enjoyed walking through the park which magically transforms into a postcard-esque winter wonderland. Ice skaters and hot cocoa and holiday shoppes - Norman Rockwell would be proud.

But just like clockwork in March, everything gets taken and broken down. The rink is drained, the stores are disassembled and the walking platform and ice surface is removed to reveal a dead lawn. For nine years I've seen the Pond come and go, and when I saw the beginnings of the construction this past week, it made me think about how one's life might resemble the annual assembly and dis-assembly of the Pond at Bryant Park. Let me explain.

In times of discouragement, my life sometimes feels like the park. There are occasions when I experience great times of richness and progression in different aspects of my life from a spiritual, relational and vocational perspective. But often due to my own hardened heart, I lament and grumble when the my "high" of great news and great blessings have faded. I'm a venue once full of light and life which has yet again been converted back to a park with patches of brown grass. I feel discouraged and discontent and the reality is that I've failed to acknowledge that there's much to be grateful about and my life has been full of simply joys for which I should be thankful.

Here's the thing. One way that you can look at the transformation of Bryant Park is that nothing changes at the end. On October 1st, it's a boring old park and on March 4th, it's still an old park. What that perspective lacks is the lives which tell a story beyond what a time-release video can depict in the span of those five months. The eye can only see the construction and destruction of podiums and storefronts and platforms. The countless stories of kids who had their first ice skate, the mother-daughter heart-to-heart conversations over a cup of hot cocoa, the African handicraft lovingly picked out by a spouse for a Christmas gift and the family stroll through the park admiring the lights in the trees - all of these things go uncaptured by the eye. This is the richness of the Park which transforms into the Pond - and like life, we learn that there is richness, growth and transformation which isn't always obvious at first glance.