Life is Like a Box of Chocolates—Make Mine Divinity.

Forrest Gump said it so succinctly, “Life is like a box of chocolates … you never know what you going to get.”

 You never do know what you’re going to get … unless the box lid has a diagram that tells you what chocolate is located where. Then you can read the key and pick the perfect chocolate. Of course, the majority of boxes, as Forrest said, have no key. When you get one of those boxes, there is no way to know which chocolate has a cream filling, which has caramel, or which is solid chocolate.

 While I find the chocolate box diagram handy for choosing my sweets, I’m not sure I’d want to go through life knowing exactly what came next. All those surprise bouquets my husband brought home to me over the years would be ruined. I’d know they were coming and that would spoil both his joy in the spur of the moment gift and my joy in receiving a gift just because he loved me.

 If I knew what was coming in life, I’d have nothing to strive for. Why would I want to spend 20 years of my life trying to get published if I knew it wouldn’t happen until I was 60? Why not just wait until age 58, dash off that book, and get a contract? Easy peasy, right? But if I did that, would I lose all the experiences I gained between the years that honed my craft and made me who I am today as a writer?

 It might be nice to know if an illness was on the horizon, especially if it was something I could avoid through better living or exercise. Knowing I might be jobless, or homeless, or have some big tragedy in my life might allow me to be prepared. Knowing my nature, though, I’d probably brood and worry about it until the rest of my existence was destroyed.

 I suppose if my life was extra hard, or if I suffered more than the average person, knowing what was coming could be helpful. But on the other hand, would it have caused me to give up instead of solve the problems I faced head on? After all, if a road looks impassable, there’s always the option to just make camp at the road block, not figure a way around, or wait for someone else to clear the way.

 No, it’s better, in my opinion, to take one’s good and bad unexpected life issues as they come out of the box—surprises and all.

 There is, however, one area of my life in which I can be certain of what I’m getting. Because I love the Lord and have accepted him as my Savior, I know what awaits me at the end of my life. The lid on the box of sweet, sweet divinity I’ll get upon reaching heaven was labeled the day I accepted Christ. I know right where I can get the help I need to get through my earthly life. I know where my eternal destiny lies. I know the address of that mansion on the streets of gold He has promised me. I can find my spot at the Savior’s feet, my heavenly harp and wings, and my seat at the Master’s banquet table.

 There will probably be chocolates for dessert at the banquet table, too. I’m looking forward to choosing one from the unlabeled box He is sure to pass around, because the Lord is bound to have some great surprises in store for us all.

 What about you? Is your box of  chocolates labeled?


(C) 2015 Catherine Castle

 

Catherine Castle is the award-winning author of the inspirational romantic suspense novel The Nun and the Narc.