![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Here's a little story I heard yesterday that really hit a chord with me. I have tried to reproduce it here as I heard it, as well as apply it in a meaningful way!
In college football, the Ohio State marching band is well-known for its tradition of marching in formation on the field at half-time, forming the cursive letters that spell out the words "Ohio State." Each band member has a role and a place in forming those words, and they work hard to learn the precise steps and movements it will take to make the formation work. It is supposedly a great honor to be the one who is the dot on the "i" in Ohio -- perhaps because that is the one part of the word that can be somewhat visualized as to how it will appear to those seeing the words from above.
From above in the stands the formation looks very impressive, but down below on the field, the band members cannot actually see what they are doing or how it is turning out. They can't see the effect of what they do -- on the field it is chaos, with people seeming to run to and fro with no visible purpose, but from above there is an obvious pattern that takes shape as the players move into position.
It can be like that for us as well. We do not have the distance from our lives to enable us to see what is being written on the field, but the pattern that forms the word is still there. Personally, I find that very comforting! My part is to move in step with the task I have been given, so that even if I can't see what is happening from below, I can trust in the fact that my movements have a purpose that will take on form and pattern at some point.
My goal this week is to strive to see past the chaos on the field and begin to try to visualize as best I can from below, what the pattern looks like from above -- and do what I can to help others with their part in the march. ;-) I kind of do this already, I suppose, but it is a good for me to be reminded now and then of the pattern being formed, and my part in it.
In college football, the Ohio State marching band is well-known for its tradition of marching in formation on the field at half-time, forming the cursive letters that spell out the words "Ohio State." Each band member has a role and a place in forming those words, and they work hard to learn the precise steps and movements it will take to make the formation work. It is supposedly a great honor to be the one who is the dot on the "i" in Ohio -- perhaps because that is the one part of the word that can be somewhat visualized as to how it will appear to those seeing the words from above.
From above in the stands the formation looks very impressive, but down below on the field, the band members cannot actually see what they are doing or how it is turning out. They can't see the effect of what they do -- on the field it is chaos, with people seeming to run to and fro with no visible purpose, but from above there is an obvious pattern that takes shape as the players move into position.
It can be like that for us as well. We do not have the distance from our lives to enable us to see what is being written on the field, but the pattern that forms the word is still there. Personally, I find that very comforting! My part is to move in step with the task I have been given, so that even if I can't see what is happening from below, I can trust in the fact that my movements have a purpose that will take on form and pattern at some point.
My goal this week is to strive to see past the chaos on the field and begin to try to visualize as best I can from below, what the pattern looks like from above -- and do what I can to help others with their part in the march. ;-) I kind of do this already, I suppose, but it is a good for me to be reminded now and then of the pattern being formed, and my part in it.
