The never-ending well

Lying in my bed, I’m tormented by worries that stop me from being transported to the land of dreams... Quite the opposite, I’m imprisoned in a nightmarish well and I’m vainly flailing around, trying to use my spade to dig out the soil, whilst the latter keeps falling inexorably to the bottom. I notice with horror that the water’s rising and that, if I don’t dig more quickly and deeply, my cellar will soon be transformed into a swimming pool: a real nightmare!

The worst thing is that this well really does exist and that this task, worthy of Sisyphus, reminds me just how fragile the foundations of my house and of my ministry are: I must find some solutions, so it doesn’t all collapse!... Alright! Okay ! I’m getting up!

The footsteps of the pioneer

5 o’clock in the morning: 

By instinct, I get to a familiar part of the forest. The frozen snow covering my path offers some resistance, but, every other step, its icy crust reminds me that I ought to lose some weight... Crunch! I go down a floor, without a lift, up to knee-height! I advance like this, looking like a completely sloshed RoboCop. Fortunately, I can use some old footsteps to walk in. 

The first person who went this way has done the job of a pioneer and it must’ve been even worse for him... I’m grateful to him, as walking exactly in his footsteps makes it much easier for me!

In the end, whatever the realm is you’re walking in for the first time, it’s the same: you’re marking out a path for the next person! And that takes me back to my work, as it’s so true that, in these parts, producing comic books, rock concerts or one-man shows for Jesus does have something quite novel about it! Nothing’s in place to make the job easier for you: neither the way people think, nor organisational structures... That’s the reason I’m here, and, even if the problem of the well is actually real, it’s far from being my only concern!

I’m here to talk to God about it... but, actually: God’s everywhere! What drove me to come to this out-of-the way place? I could’ve just as easily spoken to him sitting in an armchair in my living-room, couldn’t I?!... 

As I look more closely at the footsteps I’m moving forwards in, it dawns on me that they are actually... mine!!... That’s right - a few days before, I’d come here with my daughter (my darling little girl was feeling a bit down and needed to go for a walk with her dad)... I remember that, in this deep snow, we’d talked and laughed, chasing after each other like kids!

Hey? Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing with God right now?… 

OK, being an artist isn’t always easy... but we’ll have had a good laugh, the two of us! I have a seriously great time doing what I’m doing!... Then I tell myself that I must stop worrying about the future: I just need to play with God while creating!... Recharged, I retrace my steps, hopping in the snow.

Something has changed inside my head: the challenges I face now look more like fun games!

In the end, I really love the perspective you need to meet these challenges... And, if they seem insurmountable, that’s even cooler, because I’m going to be able to witness miracles!

And the most wonderful thing is that all of this will have an impact (direct or indirect) on many lives!!

The completed well 

A few days later, a pal came with his son to help me for a whole day to dig out that well I was telling you about. In view of the scale of the work still to be done, he decides to come back with one of his friends and, the following day, they both got up at 5 a.m. to get to my house, at 7 a.m. on the dot, with their mechanical digger... 

... And that arduous task, which would’ve taken me several months, was sorted in one single day!