The story of the forest is better than the story of the tree

In Donald Miller's book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years he reminds us that, basically, life is not all about us. And its not all about us being comfortable all of the time. We are a tree in a story about a forest and it is arrogant of us to believe any differently. And the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree. Life is bigger than us, and for this I am thankful because otherwise it would be hard to understand sometimes. Today I attended the funeral of a childhood friend's husband. He was only 36. And they had two boys. And they are so young. Why did this happen to them? How can they live out their lives without a father and she without a husband? Why all of this suffering? I don't know the answer, but it does help me to think that its not all about that one life. That that one life was intertwined with other lives and that its the story of all of our lives together that means something. Keeping that in mind, I know that some good will come out of this tragic event to make a better story for all of us, its just hard to see sometimes. Today I am thankful that the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree. That the suffering of some is not the end...