I was watching the crew painting stripes in a parking lot. They were methodical and aware, I suppose. I suppose I wondered how they do what they do. I’ve been curious to understand exactly how they can get such straight  lines. Perhaps you have seen them. They are as straight as you can get.

As I watched them work, there was an instructive moment. They brought out a “chalk line” and measured out 15 to 20 feet. They snapped the line which was perfectly straight. All of a sudden there was a wonderfully perfect line of chalk. The painters would use this line as they painted the yellow stripe.

As I watched, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is in a habit of using such things. I considered everything I saw. The chalk, and the line gave me a sense of this present age. In a sense, it was the temporariness of this present moment. The chalk line was merely temporary. It did provide a straight line which the permanent line of paint could use. The chalk line made the paint line precise and accurate.

Reflecting on this, I renewed my vision from the temporal to the eternal. This present life is all chalk. We lay it out, but eternity will paint the line. We do what we must, to make sure our chalk lines are straight.  But we also understand that all we do. is temporary. Chalk can easily be  washed away. Our heart, to be precise, can easily become nothing.

The yellow paint of the lines, is quite permanent. As they are painstakingly laid out, they cover our chalk with permanence. This is quite amazing (to me, anyway). What is chalk is only the precursor to what is permanent. We must see through this if we will understand what is real, and true.

The chalk lines represent this life. All that we do is significant as it effects our ability to make the lines. But eternity, follows the lines we lay down. If we are somehow negligent, we will never lay down anything straight. We must put down the line that will become eternal and everlasting.

All that we do is chalk, but I truly believe that it has to be significant. What we lay down, in chalk form, becomes a certain eternal value. We direct where the paint will go. And perhaps that is all that is necessary.

ybic, Bryan

Related articles

• Chalk Line Beginnings (bethparkerart.wordpress.com)
• Look of the Day: Striped Out (fabsugar.com)
• Magic stripes the filled the sky (cassandracamua.wordpress.com)

Author: Pastor Bryan Lowe

A repentant rascal with definite issues, but who is seeking to be authentic in his faith to Jesus Christ. An avid reader and a hopeful writer. Husband and father. A pastor and Bible teacher. A brain tumor survivor. Diagnosed with clinical depression, and now disabled. Enjoys life, such as it is, in Alask.a (Actually I have it pretty good.) View all posts by Pastor Bryan Lowe