A Folding Chair

 

A metal folding chair sat on the edge of the field, looking out across the tiny soybeans that were just poking their way up into the spring sunshine.  It was an odd place for a folding chair, but I had seen it for several mornings on my way to work and so it clearly served some purpose.

Typically, the reason that folding chairs (or any other type of chair for that matter) exist is to sit in and I supposed this one was no different.  I never did the reason behind this chair's location.  I saw it for another week or two and then, as suddenly as it first appeared, it was gone.

Maybe, it had gone to the beach -- or to a family reunion, but if so, I never found out.

It is possible that the farm who had planted the field of beans had sat out and watched his beans grow.  Finally, he gave up when they didn't grow fast enough.  Maybe, it served some more mysterious purpose.

I would like to think that the chair was simply assisting someone in enjoying the beauty of Creation.

We know that after each day of Creation, God looked on the things that He had made and pronounced them "good."  Then, after the sixth day, when He finished making humans and saw the completed product He called it, "Very good."

The word good can imply many things.  A lot of use the term to mean "good enough" or adequate.  If someone asks you how you are and you reply "good" (the grammarians among us say that you'd be better to answer "well"), you simply mean that things are OK and could be worse.

Obviously, that is not what God meant.

Good meant harmonious and interconnected.  More than that, good meant beautiful.  God could have created a drab flavorless Universe in which everything tasted like either chicken or week old bread.  Instead, He created worlds that are full of colors and scents and flavors.

It is all very good.  Perfect you might and beautiful enough that a farmer might sit on the edge of his field soaking it all in -- even while his beans don't grow.