The Chair

I happened to notice an exquisite chair the other day. That’s random you may say! Yes, but it was the context of the chair that made it so vivid. I happened to be sitting in another chair, distant from the other. There were only two chairs in the room. The chair I occupied was an eye examination chair with all the fancy gadgets. The exquisite chair sat in the corner, gadget-less, and fully exposed as a simple chair. It was all metal with an intended finish of dull silver. Yet, throughout the chair’s life, weather and wornness had brought forth bursts of brown and red over the surface of the chair. The chair had been recoated with a varnish to encapsulate its age while reviving its purpose.

I imagined other places this chair may have occupied. I imagined the people who may have sat over the years. I imagined the relief they may have sensed in the transference of weight from their legs to its. I imagined the chair once belonged among others like it, and the words that may have been spoken between their occupants above. A conversation between father and son, mother and daughter, or a posse of friends.

I didn’t imagine this corner as its first station. I did imagine the chair atop a junk pile, maybe two. But someone saw potential and in the context of the office’s motif, the chair seemed to have found renewed life. While the context of the chair elevated its uniqueness, I couldn’t help but sense something was off as I gazed upon the chair. It was a picture of loneliness.   

Sometimes I have felt like that chair. I see and recognize my God-given distinctiveness and yet I struggle to find my place. Perhaps you’ve wrestled with this before. Our life experiences continue to shape us as the world around us evolves. These changes can create tension between the past and the present, leaving us with a sense of placelessness. Some of this may be a yearning for eternity, but it could also be a yearning for a context that is congruent with God’s design for our life.   

The chair seemed misplaced because of what was missing around it. Certain things are meant to go with others.  

Our primary companion is Jesus Christ. Without Him our lives will never find their place. That’s bold but true. We were designed to experience community with the Triune God, and we find this in Jesus. In a dynamic world, He is our constant. But it’s difficult to separate our communing with the Triune God and our communing within His body. We undergo continual shaping as we experience life within the context of community. We come as individuals but discover our purpose together.

The image of the lone chair has continued with me. I don’t want to be like that lone chair. I want to experience the fullness of purpose that we discover within the community of faith. I’m so thankful to have people in my life who are for me as I am for them. It’s a two-way street that can be uphill but always worth the climb.

We never stop evolving and growing. Sometimes this can unsettle our sense of place. Jesus hasn’t changed. He’s the companion that never leaves us nor forsakes us. And He leads us into relationships with others to both give and receive. We continually discover our purpose in the context of one another.