A Wolf in A Story About the Wolfpack

Yes, my story is overtly a reference to the uproariously funny speech in The Hangover.

But it's also a reference to a passage in Donald Miller's newest book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, a resemblance that might be a bit harder to detect.

In his chapter about handling personal heartbreak, Don says this:

"He said to me I was a tree in a story about a forest, and that it was arrogant of me to believe any differently. And he told me the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree.”

The "He" mentioned Victor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychologist who fought to prevent prisoner suicide while in a Nazi concentration camp, by telling them that their pain and suffering wasn’t everything, wasn’t the endpoint. Frankl said there was a much greater story at work: one of redemption, which pain lent meaning to. Don recalled invoking this idea while processing his own pain. He said it made him realize that his own suffering was part of something bigger and more beautiful, despite how massive an individual’s heartache can feel at times.

I didn't want to completely jack Don's terminology for my blog post title, so I tweaked the language that aims to express what it means to be a piece of a much bigger pie. But the theme is ultimately the same, and something I want to relate to the 30cent house.

Realizing that your story isn't THE story is humbling. On the surface, it might seem insulting, and it might make you feel unimportant. But I think it also brings this huge sense of peace and greater purpose. Thinking about this idea made me realize that when things have gone astray in my life, that it isn’t everything. My story is part of something greater at work, where a Father sent His perfect son to die for the things the other kids had done, all to show how them how much He loves them and how far He is willing to go to right the wrongs. So, my pain, my heartache and my missed dreams somehow all form a piece of this bigger, magnificent, even unimaginable story.

I don’t think this means that things in my life aren't going to go well and beautifully at times. I believe that they have and that they will continue to do so in many ways. But I also believe the beauty will direct my attention upwards, to a much more beautiful, vast, and meaningful story that is God’s kingdom of peace and story of redemption and love.

After reading the tree-in-the-forest excerpt, I thought of what it means for my position in the house. In many ways, the house is the forest, and I am the tree. Everything that happens with me as an individual should point up to the mission we are trying to accomplish as a house. This means not everything will go my way. This is also means that when I experience joy, it will overflow into my greater community, or forest.

But ultimately, our house is also a tree in a story about a forest, a small part of a much greater whole. Our story isn't the endpoint, it isn't the answer, and it isn't a kingdom unto itself. 30cent is a part of something so much bigger. We are trying to be an entity that furthers God’s will and kingdom, and in the end points to the Creator. So really, it is one tree in the forest that is God’s creation.

Again, I find this encouraging. As we are still in the earliest days of setting up shop in this home, I wonder what type of impact we have. Sometimes I wonder if we will see the transformation that we are striving for within our community. In many ways, maybe we won’t see everything we are hoping to. But the tree-in-the-forest idea gives me hope. Ultimately there is a much greater story at work. One that I cannot see at all times. So, I believe that if we are pursuing God, and are passionate about living like Jesus did, somewhere in the forest there will be changes and redemption, and a place that greater resembles the kingdom of God than it did when we started. The things that we do will help tell a better story, even if it is difficult to see and perceive in our immediate world. I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out.