Guest Post: Crushed Cup (Mahlou - from the Blog of the 100th Lamb)

 

from the blog of the 100th Lamb

The Crushed Cup

As I put away my things recently on a Royal Moroccan flight from Paris to Rabat, I noticed with annoyance that the previous passenger had left a crushed drink cup in the pocket of the seat in front of me. I removed it, only to find to my dismay that it a nearly invisible amount of liquid still in it that dripped on the tray in front of me. With nothing with which to wipe up the liquid, I ripped a piece of paper from my notebook and used that, a trick I learned from my days of living in the Soviet Union, where toilet was in short supply. Notebook paper is not the remedy of first choice, but it does work—in both cases.

Then, I looked around and saw that all the stewards and stewardesses had already seated themselves for take-off. With a sigh, I put the crushed cup back in the seat pocket where I had found it. Now, it would continue to be an annoyance for at least the first portion of the flight until plane service began and would reach me in the back of the plane.

The first service was passing out the meals, and no one had any room for rubbish, not even for one lonely crushed plastic cup. It remained in the seat pocket, annoying me, until I needed a place to put the some paper and the plastic wrap from my salad—and there was the crushed cup with just the most perfect opening to hold the trash and keep the rest of my place uncluttered. Then, it opened its tiny mouth for the leftover salt and pepper, then my used napkin that did not fit readily on my tray, and then and then and then. It was very handy having that crushed cup.

How often, I thought, we judge a receptacle (or person) by looks or appearance in an unexpected place or at an unplanned time and become annoyed instead of seeing that marvelous assistance (or friend) that object (or person) could be. How often God gives a grace, and we do not see it for anything other than a crushed cup that we wish someone had thrown away.

Dr. Mahlou likes to represent herself with the image of a tiger, rather than a personal photo. You can read posts by and about her HERE.

To read more about and from Blest Atheist by Dr. Mahlou, click HERE.

To read more about and from A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God by Dr. Mahlou, click HERE.