Thoughtful Thursday -- Cardboard Boxes

My best friend in junior high was a girl whose parents had lost three sons, two of them before she was born. One died at birth, one died at the age of ten from cancer, and one died at the age of 18 in a car accident.  She was in third grade when her third brother died, and I met her when I moved to Arkansas in the summer before our seventh grade year.  Her parents were always so kind to me...I had absolutely no idea the weight of grief they must have been living under.

I ran across a poem the other day by a man named Joseph Bayly, from his book titled "Psalms of My Life".  Mr. Bayly knows something about the crushing weight of grief, having lost three children himself.  It really touched me, and I think it will touch you, too.

"A Psalm While Packing Books"

This cardboard box

Lord

see it says

Bursting limit

100 lbs. per square inch.

The box maker knew

how much strain

the box would take

what weight

would crush it.

You are wiser

than the box maker

Maker of my spirit

my mind

my body.

Does the box know

when pressure increases close to

the limit?

No

It knows nothing.

But I know

when my breaking point

Is near.

And so I pray

Maker of my soul

Determiner of the pressure

within

upon

me

Stop it

lest I be broken

Or else

change the pressure rating

of this fragile container

of your grace

so that I may bear more.