The ball bounces across the court.
I run to catch it, jumping over the cracks in the pavement. And then I notice
this one crack spans the whole length of the court. Stretching farther than I
can clearly see. And then there are these little cracks branching off of it, splitting
in all different directions. I know they probably didn’t happen all at once.
And they’re probably not done growing either. They started with one little
injury that spread until you could no longer see where it began or where it
ended. And that, ironically, was exactly why I was on that basketball court. Shooting
some hoops to clear my head and boost my mood. Wanting to be alone while simultaneously
hoping someone would see me down there and come see if I wanted company.
I knew this particular job was
going to be difficult. It was not the best environment for me, but I came in
hopeful I’d be wrong. It didn’t go wrong all at once. Just a weird look here, a
rumor started there, an odd comment thrown in for good measure. Little things,
both from myself and from others, that slowly built into big cracks, splitting
any small relationship we had before it even started. That seems to happen to
me a lot. Friendships, work relationships, family. It’s never just one thing.
It always starts with just one little hit, one tiny shake after another, until
you have a crack, splitting into a dozen other little cracks, and before you
know it there’s a canyon between you that you don’t remember being there.
So then what? Is there any hope of
fixing these relationships? Well, I believe there’s always hope if both people
want it bad enough. And the basketball court wasn’t done teaching lessons. In
the veins of this crack on the basketball court there’s one that is now filled
in with sand. The reminder of the crevice that once was is still there, but the
sand has formed a scar. And peeking through this scar are some plants, bringing
new life and growth, bringing further healing.
So, perhaps there is hope. Maybe if
enough sand and seeds, kindness, truth, honesty, prayer, can be piled into the
cracks that divide us, maybe we can heal the canyons. Maybe we can fix these
relationships. Or at least we’ll have a smoother basketball court.
