Friday, September 13, 2013

Analogy of my Life


Did You Remember the Second Bag?

          A little girl went out to the beach on her own for the very first time. Beach-combing was her passion; she had bags and bags full of little treasures proudly stacked all over her room, all collected under her mother's watchful eye. Today, however, she was allowed to strike out on her own.
          As she had soared towards the door, her mother had called after her, "Do you have a plastic bag to carry the shells and things that you find today?" The girl smirked confidently. This was not her first rodeo. It'd be downright foolish to forget such an essential part of a beach-combing kit. "Of course I do!"
          "Alright, remember to use a second bag for reinforcement!" the mother added quickly. The little girl barely acknowledged her mother's unwarranted concerns. She KNEW what she was doing. 
          
          Down at the beach, the girl set right to work. Under her carefree eye, everything glittered with the promise of value. Many different trinkets were eagerly placed into the plastic bag.
          Many things were truly beautiful. There were seashells, the surfaces gloriously textured with spines and spirals; there were soft pebbles of all shapes and sizes, expertly painted with the color palette of nature; and there were delicate shards of sea glass, smoothed to perfection by the gentle touch of the surf. 
          Likewise, many things were not so beautiful. There were little bits of stick and wood that had been randomly trampled underfoot; there were crushed beer cans and other trash, discarded from a careless bonfire party; and there were broken bones and carcasses leftover from the seagulls' morning meal. 
          All the same, the plastic bag began to fill. Soon it started to stretch and tense, its capacity rapidly approaching. It grew heavier and heavier, straining to contain the range of items inside. The little girl did not notice. She continued putting more pieces in the bag. It began tearing, glass and shells and bones poking through the taut sides. The bag is stuffed to the point of bursting, yet the little girl continued with one item after another, until....
          She froze when she heard the harsh tearing sound of the defeated plastic. Her eyes went wide as she wondered,  

                                 Did I remember to double-bag it? 

          *Bum-bum-BAHH!!!* Yes, okay, I know that was a rather long and unnecessarily detailed story (perhaps I was having too much fun with it) that may have seemed a little anti-climactic. However, the point I wanted to get across was this: my life is like that plastic bag, and the second bag, the one to help strengthen and reinforce the first, is God.
          On a daily basis, new things are put into the repertoire of my identity: experiences, victories, failures, temptations, friends, family, emotions, passions, the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly. As a human being, there is only so much that I can handle alone. Life is going to overwhelm me and knock me down. I know for a fact that some point down the road, I am going to burst. It has not happened yet, but it will come. The question is, when I do fall apart, will I have that second bag? God is the only One who will be able to give me the strength and resilience to survive through the darkest times. When this world wants to tear me in two, I want to be sure that I have my Father cover and support me. Thus far on my journey, the struggle is being a faithful follower of Christ and relying on God's foundation when I am weak. It has not been, nor will it be, easy. 

And  I desperately hope and pray and cry out to God that I remember to grab that second bag. 

5 comments:

  1. Posted with 16 minutes to spare! Oh yeah, always planning ahead, I am so great at this.

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  2. Haha! Way to get it in before midnight. :) What's great though is that this in no way seems dashed off at the last minute-- clearly, you put a lot of time into crafting the story! I love this concept Madison; He is the reinforcer. He is the shelter, the unbreakable receptacle, He is the strength you need. And I LOVE the comparison of your myriad life experiences equating to delightful beach discoveries. This is well written, well conceived, and your dramatic ending is both funny and sufficiently jarring.

    I always try to give my strong writers an idea of where to take their writing next (since we can always be improving). You are a very strong writer, which means I can hone in on the little things. Next time you write creatively, trying "Hemingway-ing" the writing as you go. By that I mean, second-guess those adjectives and adverbs and see if you can let the imagery speak for itself. The surfaces "gloriously textured" could potentially just be "textured," and then we discover the gloriousness for ourselves in your follow up description of the "spines and spirals" (I loved that line.) You may decide you prefer the SItterley effect to the Hemingway effect (I may decide I prefer it too!), but it would be a worthwhile exercise to try next time.

    That's for creative writing; for formal writing, super clear opinions are needed, so by all means, ensure we know EXACTLY what connotation and message you want to send in your analytical commentaries.

    Again, great writing here, and cool concept.
    15/15

    p.s. I'm still thinking about this: is it possible that He's the first AND second bag? The longer I live, the more I become convinced that the first bag really isn't good for much on its own; maybe it's more of a broken off plastic handle than anything else. He's still the "safety net"-- the one to find comfort and help from when it all falls apart. But He's also that daily help; the one that brings meaning and order and unity to my messy flailing about the world. I sort of want God magic for BOTH bags. What do you think? Feel free to discuss further. No worries if you're happy to be done with the assignment and leave it though, too. :)

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  3. Madi, this is beautiful.. Your writing flair always blows my mind, and this analogy hits so close to home! I could almost argue that God is like the mother and the second bag, always reminding, always reinforcing the need. I think that another part of your analogy that caught my attention was the types of things put into the bag; the truly beautiful items, the mediocre ones, and the ugly trash, but they all found their way inside. That's life! There is good, there is bad, and there is ugly! But, the double bag, our God, the love, the protection and strength that he provides we must always remind ourselves to hold close to our hearts. He can help us carry it all! Amen, Madi, I'm lovin it!

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  4. Once again you blow me away with your creativity and wonderful, hilarious voice. I can literally hear you saying these lines and it brings a smile to my face. Thank you for sharing this analogy, as I believe it fits us all. I can so very much relate to this concept, our impaired judgement on what is "good" to fill our lives with, but God will always be there to help us out :) Even the fact that we don't always start with a double bag; we think we can handle all these things on our own, but when the bag bursts under the pressures of life, we turn back and God is waiting for us. Keep up the good work, Madi! And thank you for making me smile :)

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  5. Uuuuuuughhhhhhhh this is such a good analogy!!!! I love the different components you pull into the story that all represent an aspect of your life and they're all relevant! I also especially appreciate how instead of writing an analogy about a specific characteristic of your life, you chose to write about your outlook and daily challenges, almost like your traits are only the spices to your stew but the actual gumbo is your mentality. Besides the fact that you've gotten so proficient at creating a story and at honing your intelligence to create something that is continually enjoyable to read, you've also become exceptionally talented at understanding the big picture and explaining it in a way that makes sense to us "slow" people. I mean anyone could perhaps understand the different aspects of one's life, but you are able to unite all the important details and write them down in a way that really communicates to the reader. Honestly, after years of reading your essays and what have you, it gives me so much satisfaction to see your amazing development and I hope you use this skill in whatever you do in the not so distant future. Thanks for always letting me read your work.

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