Dress shirts responding to my eight years of abuse, are beginning to show their age through frayed cuffs and collars along with thinning elbows. I never expected them to last this long. As I work with a local tailor to shape out the next generation, I am being confronted with several lessons in new packages.
Yesterday’s measurements for success do not work today. Despite my desire and hope that things would be the same, I am being confronted with factual data which points me to a different story. It is not necessary to see this as a bad story. The secret sauce is not in how the framework is measured but rather in how the framework is applied. I am not being asked to accept that the outcome of story and music today is different because of the numbers or instruments. I am invited to step beyond my unknown and into the next new chapter filled with details which touch my heart and soul.
Colors, textures, and details can and do change. Combinations, new and old, can work beautifully. I was surprised to see details presented which, in hindsight, were discussed. Initially I reacted as if a step was missed. With the question of approval reframed using the result I found myself looking at mixtures wonderfully beyond my old vision. The invitation to see, experience, and embrace new combinations is as old as it is new. The question then and now lies within our hearts. The outcome always reflects what we choose to do with our freedom.
As I wear my new local shirt, I experience the unexpected. I am not sure how to describe what followed, but the combination of new measurements, materials, and details came together in a way which triggered a reflection and lesson on how I will approach today.
On one hand I will enjoy the new combination using a “praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings.” (Psalm 150.3). I will also take the fresh approach, materials, and lessons into how I respond to the day ahead.
