Lessons from Backpack Kid

While I was driving through town many months ago, I passed a young boy walking home from school. As I approached, he began sliding his big backpack off his shoulders, eventually letting it fall to the ground. Once on the ground, the boy took one of the straps and proceeded to drag his backpack across the sidewalk. I laughed as I passed him by. If I were more hip, I would have likely stated "mood' at the sight, but I'm not that hip. 

It was good for a little chuckle and made for a nice antidote for life. Sometimes life gets heavy, you'll have a lot to carry, and you won't be able to carry it as well as you'd like. But hope reminds us that there is a good worth working towards--Home isn't too far in the distance--and perseverance reminds us to keep our eyes on the prize when the goings get tough and we just gotta do our best. Thanks for the life lesson, backpack kid. 

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I graduated from UMary a little more than a year and a half ago and was married about 5 months ago. Both college and engagement were stressful and difficult passages to go through--although certainly not without their fruits, I suppose. In both these seasons as an undergrad and then a fiancé, I had somehow believed that respite would follow once I got to the end of the season. I remember blissfully dreaming of a less stressful time once I walked across the stage to receive my diploma. I also remember blissfully dreaming of a less stressful time after I walked down the aisle to meet my spouse at the altar. But neither of those dreamy periods of respite have happened quite yet.

Wedding Photography by Nikayla & Co

Don’t get me wrong: It is wonderful not having to write papers anymore. and it is wonderful to have a greater level of stability in housing, work, and income now. Likewise, it is wonderful to live with my husband and not have to leave at the end of the night, and it is wonderful that our lives are finally one and not separated by anything, and it is wonderful to have someone who vowed--in front of God--to make me coffee every morning. So, there have been perks. 

But life is still plenty difficult. Was it naïve of me to hope that it wouldn’t be? I don't really know...I'm just speaking from the heart here. To be honest, a lot of times I feel like life is little more than a series of hurdles to jump over. One comes right after another and sometimes it feels like the hurdles are getting progressively more difficult to overcome....like how waves crashing to shore become increasingly violent as a storm approaches. 

Does that make me sound like a Debbie-downer? I don't know...I'm just speaking from the heart here. But even if it does, I'm not convinced that it's a horrible way to view life. Our faith doesn't promise ease, but promises difficulty during our journeys of sanctification. And we know to pray for the grace of final perseverance because we know that our greatest battle very well may come at the end of our lives and we'll need grace to overcome final temptation. Yet, we're not supposed to despair about how life is hard and will only get harder and then we'll possibly have our hardest battle on our deathbeds and then we'll die. That’s not what we have to look forward to.

We're supposed to have hope and know that the difficult journey is possible to endure and the good we strive for is achievable. We're supposed to have a lens of faith and recognize the movement of Divine Providence in every difficulty we face. 

Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade likened the life of a Christian to a slab of marble being chiseled into a fine statue by an artist and I appreciate this imagery. The blows will be violent at times and...thanks be to God...gentle at others, but ultimately, we have to submit to the fact that there is going to be a long series of blows made to the marble. There are a lot of hurdles in life or a lot of blows to be made, but faith teaches us that there is good in this and that every blow is orchestrated by our loving Father to make us perfect in the end. I'm trying to keep this in mind. 

St. John Paul II wrote: “I plead with you -- never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid” and I believe that message is applicable here. Our heavenly home awaits us...and we can get there. It’ll be difficult, sure, and maybe our greatest difficulties are still ahead of us. And perhaps, like backpack kid, we won’t carry those difficulties as well as we’d like to imagine. But is God not with us in those moments too? 

So let’s continue to endure the blows allotted to us to without falling into despair to the best of our ability and continue praying for the grace to persevere in the future. Maybe respite doesn't come at the end of one season or another in our lives--maybe it never comes in this life at all--but we can be assured that respite exists in the next and it's worth every blow we may ever endure.