A Parable about reaching

I think I will always be thankful to my friend Christa who, in her motherly wisdom, shared with me the joy of blowing bubbles at bathtime. For some reason, it had never occured to me. The tub is the PERFECT place for bubbles!! Duh!!

We don't use them every time, but a few times a week, I pull out the bubbles and start blowing them at my delighted son. Lately, he has taken to standing up, and reaching for the singular bubbles just beyond his grasp, even though there are usually neverending clusters of new bubbles surrounding him...

As I sit there, marvelling at the way he turns his back to the abundant supply all around him, and reaches for things that he will never be able to touch, I am reminded of how often I have done the same thing in life... ignoring the blessings God supplies everyday, and always wishing for more.

It reminds me of this song, which has never failed to minister to me. It's called "Reaching" by Carolyn Arends...

There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach
And later on in my high school
It seemed to me a little cruel
How the right words to say always seemed to stay
Just out of reach

Well I should not have thought it strange
That growing causes growing pains
‘Cause the more we learn the more we know
We don’t know anything
But still it seems a tragic fate
Living with this quiet ache
The constant strain for what remains
Just out of reach

Chorus:
We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

There are times I can’t forget
Dressed up in my Sunday best
Trying not to squirm and to maybe learn
A bit of what the preacher preached
And later lying in the dark
I felt a stirring in my heart
And though I longed to see what could not be seen
I still believed

I guess I shouldn’t think it odd
Until we see the face of God
The yearning deep within us tells us
There’s more to come
So when we taste of the divine
It leaves us hungry every time
For one more taste of what awaits
When heaven’s gates are reached

Repeat chorus:
We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

I believe that’s what heaven is for
There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach