tangled

    This week we fininished reading and discussing A Fine Balance.  An incredible, horrible book which changed our world view and our office language (Hai Ram!) and warped us forever.  And somehow, in the middle of this 603 pages, written in another country, in another time, I found a passage that summed up my year - the angst, the mercy and the joy. 


      If time were a bolt of cloth," said Om, "I would cut out all the bad parts.  Snip out the scary nights and stitch together the good parts, to make time bearable.  Then I could wear it like a coat, always live happily."
     "I'd like a coat like that," said Maneck.  "But which parts would you cut out?"
     "The government destroying our house, for sure," said Om.  "And working for Dinabai."
     "Hoi-hoi," cautioned Ishvar.  "Without her, where would the money come from?"
     "Okay, let's keep the paydays and throw out the rest."
     "What else?" asked Maneck.
     "Depends how far back you want to go."
     "All the way.  Back to when you were born."
     "That's too much, yaar.  So many things to cut, the scissors would go blunt.  And there would be very little cloth left."
     The evening sky darkened, summoning the streetlights.
     "Some things are very complicated to separate with scissors," said Maneck.  "Good and bad are joined like that."  He laced his fingers tight together.
     A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry


And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28