I drove home in a heavy snowstorm. The 1970 Cadillac Coupe deVille ahead of me had a trunk the size of a football field.

The accumulating snow on the thin sheet metal would have easily collapsed the trunk lid were it not for the corrugated trusses beneath the surface adding depth and strength.

Objects only have strength in the dimensions in which they have depth.

A flat sheet of paper flaps back and forth in a breeze. If you fold that sheet back and forth into a fan, it acquires depth in a new dimension, giving it strength to move air instead of being moved by it.

Our spiritual strength comes from spiritual depth. That depth flows from the challenges and difficulties that fold and crease our souls.

We may not like painful soul-stretching experiences that wrench us into new forms, but we can learn to be grateful for the depth and strength they bring.