A "Fine" Day
Journal 2005 02 26
A “Fine” Day
Another “fine day” and another day spent working on the freeing the big boat. The men spend all day pulling the big boat out of the river. I’m a little confused by the record, but I believe that the men succeed in moving the boat today. But as is often the case, Mr. Murphy of Murphy’s Law Firm, shows up just a moment too late this time. The ice breaks for one hundred yards on either side of them as the men are nearing success. This labor takes all day and provides great entertainment to a crowd of Indians who gathered to watch them.
Again, Captain Clark describes the day as “fine” despite “much difficulty & trouble” in getting the boat out of the river. Again, if we have had much difficulty and trouble in our day, what label do we attach to the day at its end?
If you’ve seen the great war drama recounting the first major American battle in Vietnam, “We Were Soldiers”, you remember the young first sergeant greeting the grizzled old master sergeant with, “Good morning, sergeant, fine day!” The master sergeant responds by growling and mumbling about what makes the young sergeant think that this is a fine day? They haven’t even had their first cup of coffee and he has no idea of what the day has in store and on and on as he walks on by. (Expletives deleted, by the way.) This scene is repeated for several days in a row, making the young sergeant wonder gun shy about even greeting the master sergeant.
Much later, in one of the last scenes of the movie, after three days of fierce fighting, the young sergeant is sitting waiting to be evacuated; exhausted, covered with the blood and flesh-crusted dirt of battle. Now, and only now, the veteran master sergeant approaches the young, now battle-proven, first sergeant and mumbles, “Sergeant, that was a fine day.”
Are we willing to let someone with more experience and understanding of our mission define our day? Or do we insist on passing judgment from our limited perspective? Do we allow ourselves to be trained by those with more experience? Or do we insist upon writing our own training plans? Do we consult those who have success or do we insist upon going our own way and learning all lessons anew?
Clark is able to describe a day of hard labor marked by near failure and danger as “fine”. A man who has seen war in its brutality is able to call a day “fine” when a young man has proven himself to be worthy of command in the most trying and deadly of human conflicts.
Are we willing to let God call our day “fine” no matter the struggle, pain and battle it may have held? Then and only then are we beginning to understand the rule of the Kingdom of God.
I’m praying for a “fine” day for each of us and for the Kingdom today.
A “Fine” Day
Another “fine day” and another day spent working on the freeing the big boat. The men spend all day pulling the big boat out of the river. I’m a little confused by the record, but I believe that the men succeed in moving the boat today. But as is often the case, Mr. Murphy of Murphy’s Law Firm, shows up just a moment too late this time. The ice breaks for one hundred yards on either side of them as the men are nearing success. This labor takes all day and provides great entertainment to a crowd of Indians who gathered to watch them.
Again, Captain Clark describes the day as “fine” despite “much difficulty & trouble” in getting the boat out of the river. Again, if we have had much difficulty and trouble in our day, what label do we attach to the day at its end?
If you’ve seen the great war drama recounting the first major American battle in Vietnam, “We Were Soldiers”, you remember the young first sergeant greeting the grizzled old master sergeant with, “Good morning, sergeant, fine day!” The master sergeant responds by growling and mumbling about what makes the young sergeant think that this is a fine day? They haven’t even had their first cup of coffee and he has no idea of what the day has in store and on and on as he walks on by. (Expletives deleted, by the way.) This scene is repeated for several days in a row, making the young sergeant wonder gun shy about even greeting the master sergeant.
Much later, in one of the last scenes of the movie, after three days of fierce fighting, the young sergeant is sitting waiting to be evacuated; exhausted, covered with the blood and flesh-crusted dirt of battle. Now, and only now, the veteran master sergeant approaches the young, now battle-proven, first sergeant and mumbles, “Sergeant, that was a fine day.”
Are we willing to let someone with more experience and understanding of our mission define our day? Or do we insist on passing judgment from our limited perspective? Do we allow ourselves to be trained by those with more experience? Or do we insist upon writing our own training plans? Do we consult those who have success or do we insist upon going our own way and learning all lessons anew?
Clark is able to describe a day of hard labor marked by near failure and danger as “fine”. A man who has seen war in its brutality is able to call a day “fine” when a young man has proven himself to be worthy of command in the most trying and deadly of human conflicts.
Are we willing to let God call our day “fine” no matter the struggle, pain and battle it may have held? Then and only then are we beginning to understand the rule of the Kingdom of God.
I’m praying for a “fine” day for each of us and for the Kingdom today.
posted by @2007 Dick Cinkovich | 11:29 PM
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