I took two trips a few years ago to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina! Spent our time with our family up in a hand-hewn, square-cut log cabin with dovetailed corners. Each day was filled with wonderful views and hot, sunny days of adventure. The type one can dream about or watch on TV movies. Beautiful trees, leaves, country roads, birds chirping and sunshine down until 9:30 p.m.! It was heavenly, to say the least! Each day brought outings and great adventures. One day, we crossed three small log bridges-one person at a time. We walked trails covered with trees and where streaks of sunshine broke through. Truly magical!
One day, my son-in-law and I visited some antique stores while the wives were home. Not a good thing! I eyed a two-man saw with a landscape scene beautifully painted on it. I convinced myself I needed it and wanted it. I purchased it but now had two problems: How to ship it back to Puerto Rico and how to tell my wife; both difficult moves. My son-in-law had my back in terms of getting it shipped. We got some boxes, bought tape, and spent 45 minutes pouring sweat from our foreheads at the post office parking. It wasn’t easy to package a flimsy 66” long saw; but we did it! Inside the post office, we were called to the counter. The agent didn’t know how to measure it. Instead of measuring the length, the width, and the height-a mere 2,” he measured the length twice! We were appalled! We told him that was not the way to do it! He insisted it was! Now, we had a bigger problem (literally)! This being near a 4th of July weekend, many businesses were closed. We finally found a chainsaw carving locale and asked if someone could ruin my beautiful saw by cutting it down with a grinder. One guy agreed. When he saw the artwork, he asked us, “Are you guys really sure you want to do this?” Tearfully and with shaking knees, I said, “Yes.” We held a moment of silence…
We repackaged it and headed to the P.O. the agent was surprised at how small we were able to get it-shmuck! Just as he was about to call us, another teller called us & he measured it correctly! All that for nothing. It was on its way, and now I only had to tell my wife. The sweat would pour down again. “Honey, Baby, Sweetie, Darling…What a beautiful day…” I lived to tell about it, though it took a while to recover from the wounds (kidding). Good thing she didn’t have the saw on hand-you’d never know!
Back home, I had to find someone to seamlessly weld it back & then I had to paint it to blend both parts. I didn’t mind because I knew the saw had a story and history of its own and now it had mine to go with it! That’s life. We all have stories, though I seem to have tons of them.
Some two thousand years ago, Jesus had a story to tell, a mission to fulfill, and a purpose for both. Upon His death, the veil of the temple was torn in two. Decades ago, I read it would require 2-3 oxen on each end, each pulling in their direction in order to tear the veil apart. Yet, it was divinely torn-not from the bottom the way oxen or men could do it, but from the top signifying it was an act of God. So, why was the veil important? In a nutshell, it separated us from a holy God. It required burnt offering and sacrifices to reach Him. It kept us from approaching Him and saying, “What’s up, God?” The tearing means we now have access to Him anytime and anywhere. He took our sins and He sacrificed His life for us so we wouldn’t have to. He took our place at the altar. We can talk to Him and tell Him whatever is on our hearts.
Years later, history tells us that one or two of His disciples were sawed in half. At the coming resurrection, their bodies will become ‘ONE’ again- as will the bodies of all that have died for Christ’s cause, whether they’re on/In the ground, cremated, in the sea, or anywhere else! If there’s hope for an old, artful saw, there’s definitely plenty of hope for you!
Bright, Sunny Days in NC
