I’m delighted to introduce you to Ming-Wai Ng, another of our many, fine friends from Charlotte, North Carolina. We met Ming at Hutchmoot 2014, that great gathering of our cousins at The Rabbit Room. She’s a fine writer and I appreciate this post for the humility and tenacity it inspires in me to keep seeing the good hand of God in all of life. Thanks, Ming. –Sam
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If communism had not taken over China, I would not be here.
If that black thread were to be purged from the tapestry of history, I would not exist. My entire being, my entire story, would unravel.
Think about all the dark lines you would like to erase: that horrible decision, that pain you experienced, that one choice you are sure no good can come from, that one meaningless tragedy, that travesty that was committed against you.
Take whiteout to the history books, apply it liberally. Erase all the black marks, all the wars, famines, disasters, disease, and you’ll probably erase yourself in the process.
We do not stand alone in time, a cord that woven from pain, sorrow, joy, tears, heartache, bitterness, and love, stretches back tethering us to our place in this moment.
Snip the black; it all unravels, unwinding into a pile of tangled, empty string.
My name is Ming and I am made of threads, threads of story, threads of pain. Before I was even born, thin filaments of loss, pain, joy, heartache, love, laughter, battles, and failure were being stitched into my being. Before I took my first breath, there were dark wispy fragments of pain being woven into the core of who I am. They are there now; from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head, and without those threads, I would not exist.
Frederick Buechner once said, “The story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all.”
Erase my name and insert your own. Next time you want to snip and erase, remember there is One who is working all things together for good.
For now we see through a glass darkly…
Grab hold of that thick cord of history and when the storms come raging tomorrow and evil smiles, look back and see the fingerprints of love in the middle of chaos. Remember that we are never forgotten, even in our darkest and most vulnerable moments.
Here is truth: Love wins.
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Featured Image by Paul Boekell
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Yay, Ming! I’m so proud of you!
Thanks, Brenda! 🙂
I resonate with this so deeply. There’s a tension of seeing pain and suffering for what they are, and also seeing beauty grow from those dark places. You hit the nail on the head here. Thank you for this.
Yes.
Beauty breaking out and growing from dark places.
Annie, I love that, thank you.
Aw, Ming, I’m so glad to see you here! This is wonderful.
Thanks, Peter! I’m glad to be here too, it’s all a bit surreal.
“Take whiteout to the history books, apply it liberally. Erase all the
black marks, all the wars, famines, disasters, disease, and you’ll
probably erase yourself in the process.” I love this line. I love this post.
Yeah.
Thanks, Helena!
Welcome, Ming.
– And thank you for this post. The scissors, the white-out, tempt me as often as I forget God’s mercy. This is a beautiful reminder I expect I’ll share with my children as they grow.
Thanks, James!
So good. Thanks, Ming!
Thank you, Loren!
Ming, this same revelation came to me a few years back when my grandad passed away. The men in his house were all bridge builders. While building Memorial Bridge connecting Delaware and NJ, he missed a step and fell to the icy shore. He was paralyzed from the armpits down from that day on. No more bridge building, and no more house in upstate NY. OSU in Columbus OH was the closest place that could handle his injuries at that time. The family had to move. My dad grew up here instead of NY and met my mom, and so my sister and I were born.
Wow…what an incredible story, Joe. I actually wrote after getting home from my grandfather’s funeral this past fall, he and my grandmother died within a few days of each other and I’m still turning over everything in my head.
What I keep coming back to is how even the darkest and most painful moments in life are not wasted, the truth that everything that is meant for evil is being woven into good, is something that I need to be reminded of often. Thank you so much for sharing.
Beautifully written & shared! Thanks Ming
Thank you, Julie!
This is a nicely written reminder that we humans have a dysfunctional relationship with suffering. We tend to forget that God can bring good out of anything, no matter how horrible: a precious human life from rape, forgiveness and redemption after the murder of a loved one, even acres of blueberries from a forest fire. Because we tend to see suffering as merely an end, instead of a means to something greater, we try desperately to eliminate it. The problem is that our efforts to eliminate suffering often lead to greater suffering.