Perils of Empty

Choose faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

After living one more year on this planet, counting my blessings and being grateful for this life, my focus has become clearer than it was before. And, what has become perfectly transparent is that the human race has been hijacked. Hijacked by who? Yes….WHO? Hmmm. We are constantly bombarded by the idea that there are GIANT PROBLEMS out there which are out of our control to solve. We are reminded of our smallness every single day. I have come to the conclusion that who or what we let remind us of our singular finite-ness can put our house in order. Or disorder.

If you leave a house empty of human habitation, every empty day leaves more room for ‘the others’ to move in. It could be bugs, it could be mice and all other unwanted creatures. The spiders take the absence as an open invitation and their webs go up faster than a condo in Florida. The dust covers everything, even the dust covers. The outside fares just like the inside. If there is nobody to shoo away the spiders, rake the leaves and fend off the unwanted just by being present, the habitation becomes a wreck. Little by little, day by day, the unwanted moves in to the empty. The same is true if we compare this analogy to our soul. If we abandon all hope, where that hope used to live is now an empty space. A vacuous space of invitation for all things undesirable to take root and make a home. I believe there is a lesson there…We cannot think that our faith is insignificant against seemingly all odds. To watch American news is to be disheartened, discouraged and depressed. The fear mongering is strong on both sides. What chance could we have against all this terrible news? Faith. Hope. Connection.

A Flycatcher and her 4 giant babies. Year 7 using the same nest.

I have connected to nature in a way that I never have before. I have never felt so powerless and small as when I am out and about in God’s creation. And I like it. It tweaks my soul in a way that nothing else can. I see the birds going about their business and they have no clue that there are multiple crises happening. They just “bird”. It is what they were born to do. I have a feeling that if every creature on this planet had a news feed and let it feed them, this world would fall apart. I do not use that term ‘news feed.’ I am not going to let it ‘feed’ me. I am not going to let Uncle Klaus or peeping Bill let me feel small and insignificant.

I am going to head out into nature, whether it be on an old dirt road with coyotes for music or the beach, listening to the pounding of waves against the sand. It will be God who makes me feel small. It will not be man, or man-made or manufactured. I refuse to worry about those things over which I have NO control. Wherever I choose to be, there I am. God is my Refuge, no matter what is around me. It is what is inside that counts. I refuse manipulation. We ALL must refuse manipulation. I am working on being the best version of myself, wherever that happens to be. But, hey, I am not perfect and never will be. I can only strive and am a work in progress. Be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.