WHAT'S A DOUGHNUT WITHOUT A HOLE

My eyes went gaga over the eye-catching array of multi-colored mouth-watering doughnuts before me. And so was the 5 year old kid standing to my right with nose pressed against the glass. He was eyeing the one coated in chocolate topped with cream twirls and sprinkled with bits of candy. The lady behind the counter smiled and said “Special of the day.” Well, well, this kid sure knows his doughnuts! His mom placed her order, paid for it, and gently steered her little one out the door – the kid clutching his precious brown bag. “Yes, ma’m?” the lady now turned to me. “Oh my, this is harder than I thought.” I said in jest . “But wait…” I spoke now puzzled. “What happened to your doughnuts?” The young girl looked at me suspiciously, then at her doughnuts, and back at me “Something wrong with it, ma’m?” “Yes, you’re selling me doughnuts but they don’t look like doughnuts!” At that point, my daughter came and sizing up the situation hurriedly retrieved me before I went into a lecture on doughnuts. “Mom! C’mon, let’s get you a nice dress at Bayo.” “Honey! …. What’s a doughnut without a hole?!!” “Sure, it’s punctured, incomplete, not whole like bread, and maybe you feel that you’re not getting your money’s worth, but the hole in the doughnut is just what makes it interesting and appealing to eat.”

So much like life—Holes, what life has plenty of. When plans don’t work, when new problems rise, when fortunes are lost, when parents disapprove, unwanted pregnancies, when relationships falter maybe fail, when the path chosen turn out to be the wrong one, when unexpectedly progress is blocked – just to name a few. Yet isn’t it a fact that despite the holes punctured into our dreams, ambitions, plans – life is even sweeter because of it? Somebody tell me how our dreams can ever take shape without having to go through the hurdle, impediment, obstacle or problem first? How is it possible to gather our ‘pearls’ if we don’t get our hands dirty searching for it in the muck and mire of life? How pray-tell are we going to know if we have it in us ----the courage, strength, faith, or the grit-and-guts to survive if not tested through difficulty?? I know of no other way to bring out to the fore a man’s inherent intelligence, talent, and skill at problem-solving than to present him with tough problems. And I know no other way, too, for a man to be in real touch with his soul and connect with his God -- than when he is deep down in the dark bottom of the pit. Truly a punctured life brings out the best in a person. Strengths never seen before shine through, energies depleted are revived with new-found faith, talents and skills are honed to perfection, and hope gets renewed repeatedly. What greater satisfaction can there be than this – of winning a thorny and tough battle, of knowing you have defeated it and overcome, and of finally reaching your goal? So then what is life if it was all ease and comfort, soft and predictable?! –Yup, we know the answer to that. And to my still incredulous daughter, one more time --- what’s a doughnut without a hole?! :-)


posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 12:31 PM