My Lab and the Book of Daniel

My lab is not really pretty. The walls are a dead eggshell and peeling in some places. The ceiling tiles outdated and one has a huge brown water mark. The hood’s sash is etched and on the interior it has some orange stains. Two benches are packed with little tools and chemicals I use daily, the third, is a cemetery of 2 old computers and a retired Nitrogen analyzer maybe from the 60s. It’s a small lab. My ICP seats in the middle of the room, next to my old black desk. In front of me a vivid yellow flammable cabinet packed with class 4 cancer causing agents. Behind the ICP, my SAVING GRACE: two large windows that face an inner garden somewhat abandoned.

From my 2 windows I can see some of the offices and the terrace protected with silver rails. From the one behind me, I’m graced with a delightful ray of sun that upon entering the room, seats on my left shoulder…the other window gives me a little tree. When any little breeze passes by, her dancing shadow immediately catches my eye. It is the heart of winter, not much life in movement here. But in the next 3 seasons the little tree will receive a number of winged guests. They come in groups, not songbirds, mostly big agitated birds. They remind me of stock market traders: loud, rough, greedy and restless. Their adventures on the tree branches, in comparison to the “controlled environment” of this pasty industry, is adorable to me.

I seat here with my Bible and my 2 windows. While the ICP hums away breaking molecules into atoms, I hum away praying that family curses may turn into blessings. This lab through the years has become my prayer closet. In here I was once told by a higher ranked employee that my Bible wasn’t welcomed. ~7 years later it is still sitting in the same desk. Considering today’s corporate culture, what I call “my saving grace” could be my tragedy…can I be seen through the windows praying and reading from the Bible? Is the title “born again” something that can be safely worn in the cafeterias of American corporations?

All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Daniel 6:7
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Daniel 6:10