Back in my hometown of Chattanooga, there's a little place called the Yellow Deli. Actually, it's not so little anymore, but when I was in college, it was this eclectic, small cafe-type restaurant where my friends and I would often congregate. The joint had some of the best sandwiches ever, especially their turkey and Swiss on rye. I have so many fond memories of a group of us gathered around a table or two, talking until late in the night ... solving the troubles of the world, railing against the establishment, sharing dreams of the grand things we would do once we graduated. Looking back, life was simple then ... easy then ... the biggest problems we had concerned grades or boyfriends or cars. And most of those problems seemed quite fixable around the tables of the Yellow Deli ... our own little Quick Fix Cafe.
The last time I visited Chattanooga, I went back to the Yellow Deli with some friends. It's very different than the way I remembered it from my youth, though I did have some awesome turkey and Swiss minus the rye bread. I couldn't help but take a jog down memory lane as I visited with my friends on that sunny November day. As I listened to them relate the events of their lives down through the years, I realized that it wasn't only the Yellow Deli that was very different. Life has changed all of us ... some for the better, some not so much. We've experienced joys such as weddings or the births of children (some even have grandchildren) or successful careers or dreams that have come true. We've also experienced the sting of death or divorce or illness or job loss. We've changed ... all of us have changed.
I've often wished for a Quick Fix Cafe in life ... a Yellow Deli where I could sit at a table, have a bite to eat, and solve whatever problem I was wrestling with at the time. I think the cold hard truth is that many of us, if not most of us, yearn for a quick fix when things are tough, when we are burdened or weary or sick or sad. Years of life and the passage of time have taught me, however, that quick fixes often don't last ... that real restoration and true healing take time and hard work, and more often than not involve more than a little pain and brokenness along the way. Real and lasting fixes in life follow real and lasting changes of heart, of mind, of soul.
Even though I want to eat at the Quick Fix Cafe, Lord, help me find my way to your table instead. Help me to wait on You, to long for You, to seek You, to trust You ... feed me, Lord ... fill me, Lord ... fix me, Lord.
1 comment:
this one is my fave of all of the ones i've read today. i love the name yellow deli...and quick fix cafe. what an insight! :)
love the raw sentiment in this one and appreciate so much the wisdom you also share with us. you are right about quick fixes...that often they don't last.
i had a hurting friend once thank me by saying, thanks for not trying to put a band-aid over a gaping wound. :)
just made me think that all too often that is all we feel capable of contributing. a band-aid. a quick word or cliche or sentiment or tho't. we impart something, intending it as a well wish or quick fix, and then walk away from someone who is still suffering tremendously.
perhaps its because we don't really know what to say or how to help. perhaps its because we are painfully aware that we do not have the time we know would be needed to fully commit to this person...to be a true friend to them in more than just an hour of great need...to intention to be a long-term aid or companion in their healing.
because as you so appropriately said, real healing takes time. there are no band-aids big enough to cover the nevers and forevers in this lifetime that some of us are dealt. :)
still, we should endeavour to try to be a friend...to commit whatever we can. cuz some things one simply cannot walk away from... :)
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