Habitatus Interuptus

Saturday Night was Interesting to say the least!

The same storm system that killed 21 people in Missouri and Oklahoma, and several in Arkansas, eventually found it’s way eastward to Mississippi.
About 2am sunday morning it grazed our house lifting the roof and ceiling, allowing gallons of rainwater to pour in. It also dropped the front porch which wraps around 2 sides of the house.

We were fortunate however, in that no one was harmed, the house is still standing, and Karen’s brother John is a contractor. He and his crew got the roof and porch mostly repaired by yesterday evening.

So now we are sorting through the interior damage, ordering new flooring, and looking to see what survived and what didn’t. I am afraid my $3,000 Mitsubishi wide screen TV may have drowned, as it was directly beneath the largest stream of water pouring through the ceiling. However, insurance will replace all these things. The irreplaceable things, our lives, are still intact!

I have done a lot of thinking in the days since this all happened, and have wondered…. Was this a bad experience or a good one?
Most people would describe it as an ‘awful’ experience, but I have been considering an alternative perspective.

To illustrate, let me use an old chinese proverb about the poor farmer and his son, who had one horse:

One night while the farmer and his son were sleeping, the horse broke out of the corral and ran away.
The next day, the neighbor came by to console the farmer regarding his misfortune. Wisely, the farmer replied: “Yes, but who knows what is good, and what is bad?”

Oddly enough, the next day the horse returned, leading with it 3 wild horses! The farmer and his son now had 4 horses! The same neighbor rushed over, this time to congratulate his friend on his good fortune! After he subsided, the wise farmer merely replied, “Yes, but who knows what is good, and what is bad?”

The following day, while trying to break one of the wild horses to ride, the farmer’s son was thrown to the ground, breaking his leg. Again the neighbor returned, bemoaning his friend’s misfortune! “It is so terrible, you will never be able to harvest your crop by yourself!” The farmer’s reply was still the same: “Yes, but who knows what is good, and what is bad?”

The next morning, the army passed by conscripting young men to fill their ranks, and excused the farmer’s son because of his broken leg. When the neighbor appeared breathing exclamations of relief for his friend’s good fortune, the answer was still the same: “Yes, but who knows what is good, and what is bad?”

Where does the story end?

Yes we were traumatized, had to spend 3 nights in a motel, and had major structural and interior damage to our residence.

But also, our lives were spared, our awareness of how much we love each other, and our family was deepened, we are getting a new interior and nicer porch for the front of the house, and new roofing!

But to me, the best part is the personal enrichment and growth that comes with another one of life’s experiences, deepening my awareness and understanding of reality in all it’s infinite permutations.

C’est La Vie Mon Ami!

David