Going paperless was a thing at one time, but there has never been a consideration to do without cardboard.

I can’t imagine a world without cardboard. 

We use it for so many things and it comes in so many varieties, from cereal boxes to packing material to the tubes they pour concrete in to make columns.  

So many purchases you make contain some form of cardboard.  

and even when it has fulfilled its primary purpose, parts of it can still be used to do many other things. For instance, you can fold a piece of cardboard and use it to shim a table that’s wobbly. The restaurant I last ate in needed a piece of cardboard under one table leg – it drove me nuts.

There was a time when the use of cardboard was frowned upon. Either there was a fear we would run out of trees to make it, or we didn’t know how to recycle it, but cardboard packaging was shunned.

It’s back now and cardboard is better than ever. 

We just bought a couch from Ikea and it came in two huge cardboard boxes. And yes, of course, I had to build the couch myself … with the help of our daughter.

The pieces were arranged precisely in their boxes, piece by piece, with strategically placed cardboard to prevent any piece from rubbing against each other and so that nothing in the boxes moved at all.

How the boxes were packed was an art form in itself and I believe I removed as much cardboard as I did parts of the couch. 

When we were done, there was a mountain of cardboard left over . Though the pile did not weigh what it had with the couch inside, there was enough cardboard to make a house and a rocket ship.

… Many years ago when our children were little, my wife, Lily, got ahold of some very large cardboard boxes. With one she made a cabin that our kids could stand up in. They used it for years. With another batch of cardboard she made a rocket ship. Though it didn’t fly to the moon, it did provide many imaginary trips to far off planets for our kids.

Now that our kids have grown up she doesn’t do that anymore. But I watched Lily break down those new boxes and make four large piles of cardboard each tied to keep the pieces together. If needed she probably could have made a replica couch to the one we purchased, only sitting on it would have proved disastrous for the cardboard.

In the end the four piles of cardboard were placed in our vehicle and taken to be recycled into something new … maybe a refrigerator box or several TV boxes, or even an Apple computer box or two. It was high quality cardboard IKEA used to package and protect our couch. 

At one time we would just burn the cardboard, but now we can reuse it and remanufacture it for many applications. 

We will always have cardboard with us.

Here’s the thing: This cardboard reminds me of God. He is always with us, though sometimes under appreciated. There are even attempts by some to do without Him. He is still always with us. And there are so many reasons to seek God out. There is enough of Him for everyone; no one has to go without Him. We should never consider life without God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has God been part of your life today? Leave your comments and questions below.

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