Rubik’s Cube Life

It wasn’t until the machine was an inch from my nose when I thought I should ask what was really going to happen.  You would think that as I took my position laying down on the table and settled in with a pillow behind my neck that I would have been told what to expect, but no, I went along with everything thinking that this was just a simple scan of my body to find out the results of my radiation therapy.

It wasn’t until I was shoved into the machine, a board lowered to my nose, and I was told to “just lay still for 30 minutes” when I thought it would be a really, really good idea to ask what was going to happen.

I might have panicked but mainly I wanted to have a slight clue what was going on, especially when I couldn’t move a muscle for 30 minutes.  That never happens.  Never.  Josh never sits still!  So when I mumbled “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are we actually doing here?” the nurse kinda chuckled and pulled me back out where she could explain the torture before repeating the process.

I settled back in and kept my eyes close this time and passed the 30 minutes without issue.  I have learned in this season of my life to just keep rolling with it..whatever “it” is! 

A few minutes later my scan results were printed and handed over to the doctor.  She eyed them over, far less than 30 minutes, and happily reported that I had no signs of cancer.  My surgery, radiation, and lots of prayers had guided me to this point where I could say I’m cancer free.  Yay!  What a relief and I’m happy to turn the page and check this off of my life experiences.

I walked out of the office and climbed into my Jeep.  In the backseat I spotted one of the boys’ Rubik’s cubes, which isn’t an unusual sight.  It’s a bit of a rule that you can have a little bit of screen time when we travel, but it’s far better to watch the world go by, read a book, or play a game.  So our boys have a sense of direction because they see the sights, but you can often hear the plasticky clicking of cubes being manipulated and shifted around in hopes of getting the sides to line up in a solid color.  But on this day the Rubik’s cube wasn’t an object to pass the time, it was there to teach a lesson!

The sight of a Rubik’s cube brought an instant comparison to life over the last few weeks, months, and years.  Have you felt like your life was constantly being shifted, aligned, and changed?  I sure do!  Walking out of the doctor’s office with a clean bill of health felt like a block on a Rubik’s cube being clicked into a new place.  It was a good thing!  But I’ve also felt like some shifts and movements were monumental and they put me in places I didn’t want to be for timeframes I wasn’t sure of the duration.  Life as a Rubik’s cube is constant shifting and changing.

Rubik’s cubes can also be extremely frustrating.  If the idea is to match colors on all sides is not exactly easy.  So I asked the boys how you would cheat at Rubik’s cube.  They answered that you could pull the stickers off and reorient them.  Or you could pull a corner piece out and rotate it so that it aligns with what you want.  Once you get all of the colors lined up you can dump some super glue in there and make sure that the thing never changes for any reason!

You could choose to live life that way as well.  Instead of being shifted and changed in the hands of someone that has a plan you could simply take matters into your own hands and play the game on your own terms.  You can be in the game or play the game…it’s your choice!  Some choose this approach as the way to live life because life is always on their terms.  You can change blocks, pull off stickers, and make things the way they should be…and then dig in and put some super glue in there to keep things as controlled as possible!

That’s the difference between being in the game and playing the game.  There’s a willingness and vulnerability to letting things shift and change.  Not all of it is good at the time.  Some of it just plain stinks…and there can be an extended season of the stinkiness!  Maybe it’s difficult to see how one move will lead to a better move later on.  And rarely does one move do it; there are many small moves that lead to the Promised Land. 

There is a desire to just “get to the end already!” too…if God is moving pieces why can’t he just make one mega-move and get things right; right now!  Rubik’s cube life is an exercise in patience, perseverance, and eventually peace in, and despite, the shifting and changing.

It’s hard to be in the game and not resort to playing the game.  I get it.  But I do think there is some sweet longevity and gentle goodness to being in the Rubik’s cube game of life rather than playing the game on our own terms.  The pieces may twist and turn, but the One that holds us will, and can, do so much more with our life than we ever could on our own. 

I wasn’t thrilled when I was stuffed into a machine with zero headroom without explanation.  But it was another click in the in the life of Rubik’s cube-life.  Whatever you face today, whatever moves are made, don’t give up your place in the game!