God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. –Psalm 46:1-3
On vacation in Florida, Fran and my mom and I played “Bananagrams,” an adaptation of Scrabble. There is no board, and all the letter tiles have equal value. Each person starts with 21 tiles and works independently to create scrabble-like crosswords with their letters. When one person runs out of tiles, she calls “peel” and everyone takes another tile (we play that you take 2), and has to incorporate those new letters into their crosswords. As needed, you can undo your words and rearrange them over and over again. The first person to use all their tiles, after all the tiles in the middle have been drawn, wins.
Fran and I were accustomed to playing Bananagrams; it was new for my mom. It took her awhile to get the hang of it. She kept creating beautiful, high-value scrabble words. When she would draw two more letters, she would be stuck. After a few games she realized that Bananagrams is all about flexibility–three- or four-letter words that can easily change out their vowels. “Jab” is a great work, because it can turn into “jib” or “job” when you discover you really need that “a” for something else. “Exonerate” is a beautiful scrabble word, but lacks the flexibility needed in Banagrams.
Once my mother made the shift, of course, she became a killer Bananagrams player!
It strikes me that life is more like Bananagrams than Scrabble! Every day, there are new tiles we need to incorporate–new opportunities, new needs, new realities. If we are too enamored of the perfect high-value scrabble words we have created, we will not be able to make space for the new letters we have picked. If we are too attached to our elaborate plans for how our life should proceed, we will not be able to make space for new possibilities God offers us, or for new ways we are called to care for one another.
What does it mean, in your life, to be flexible enough to make space for new possibilities?
Bless us, O God, with creativity, to write beautiful words; with flexibility, to rearrange them to make space; with trust, that you are with us in the face of change. Amen.