Song of Solomon for Teenagers

          Several years ago, I took my boys and some other people up to Michigan on a ski trip.  Midway through the day, the chairlift I was riding in stopped half way up the mountain.  I had normally been riding with one or more of the people in my group, but this particular ride was just me and a man with a ski-patrol jacket on.  After dangling in the chilly breeze for several minutes, I asked him what his particular function was.  He replied that he was the man in charge of evacuating the chairlifts in the event of a breakdown.  We both laughed at the irony of that.  It then occurred to me that I was looking at a golden opportunity.

          As the cold air whistled by, I said “Mike, what’s your purpose in life?  Why are you here?”  He thought a moment, then mentioned that that was a good question.  He said he thought that he was here to help people. I asked him to consider for a moment what would be his purpose if this chairlift plummeted to the ground and he was a quadriplegic.

          That is interesting isn’t it?  What is your purpose if you not only can’t help others, you can’t even help yourself?  Now we all know there are quadriplegics in this world.  What is their purpose?  Good question huh?  It seems it might take someone like God to answer that.  He does.