When it hit 100 degrees this week, I was lucky enough to find myself sitting in the water and dripping sand on my legs as the sunfish floated a few feet away. An almost 10-year sat beside me, regaling me with how you could make a weapon out of a mouse trap and a piece of hard candy. I did what any good child of the 80’s would do: asked him if he had watched MacGyver.
Remember him? No matter what the life-threatening situation, all MacGyver had to do was slap some duct tape or chewing gum on it, and he saved the day.
Sometimes, when things are bad, we have to MacGyver it.
Picture our hero flying a crop duster. A barrage of bullets pierces the shell of MacGyver’s plane, because evil dude is shooting at him. One bullet hits the fuel line, and fuel sprays everywhere. What does MacGyver do? Using his belt to keep the plane level, he crawls out on the tail and slaps some duct tape on there, so he can land the plane and walk away from the crash. You’re so dreamy, MacGyver!
What we should keep in mind is that the duct tape and chewing gum are meant to be temporary fixes. They are not designed to last.
Let me put it this way. If your plane were crashing because the fuel line had been hit and duct tape would help you land, would you use it?
You bet your ass you would.
But, would you get back on that plane and take it up again? And again? And again?
Hell, no.
And yet, when we are hurt or suffering, when we slap some duct tape on our lives to make it through, how often do we leave that quick-fix solution in place?
How many of us fly around our lives with the damage unfixed, the devastation unmended?
What we never saw in the MacGyver episodes was the crew of mechanics pulling the plane into a hangar, removing the wounded shell, putting in a brand-new fuel line, and securing strong and whole pieces back on to the body.
Because that takes time and effort, care and attention, and that doesn’t make for good drama, does it?
But it does make for better flying.
I am sure you have your wounds. God knows, I do. It can be easy to quick-fix them and move on with our lives. But think about the duct tape on the fuel line. It really is up to you. You can climb back on that MacGyver’d plane and hurtle yourself into the air. Or you can pull the wounded plane into the hangar and fix the damage mindfully, carefully, and then get back out there and soar.
Live light, y’all!