A Modern Parable

This parable was inspired by the Anna's Hummingbird that entertains me when I sit at my kitchen table. The Anna's Hummingbirds no longer fly south for the winter but stay in south western BC year round, so I leave my patio hummingbird feeders up all year.

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A Parable
Once upon a time there was a hummingbird named Anna who was content to winter over in her summer home rather than migrate to the south, the age honoured tradition still followed by many of her kin. She had learned that there were certain 'flowers' that yielded unending nectar, making the long yearly trek unnecessary.

On one particularly warm winter day she flew farther afield than she was in the habit of doing and found herself on the edges of the southern regions.   She encountered one of her kin, known by the name of  Rufus, who eyed her rather shrewdly.  "You arrived just NOW ?"
Anna hardly glanced at him. "No, no.. I wasn't intending to come south for the winter. I will be flying back to the north were I have been spending the winter months."
Now, Rufus, was baffled. "But why would you do that ! You will starve !"
"Starve?" exclaimed Anna.  "Why would I starve. Food is plentiful!"
Rufus decided Anna was delusional since he knew without doubt that flowers all die in winter climates cutting off all nectar supply.
   Rufus tried another angle. "But.. but...  then you will freeze!"
"Ach, you are but dumb!"  scolded Anna.  "Do you not know anything?  Have you not heard of torpor?"
"Torpor?" repeated Rufus mystified. "What in the world is torpor?"
Anna sighed impatiently.  "It is what I do when the nights are cold.  I go into a hibernating state, thereby lowering my heart rate and slow down my metabolism  .. and I rest quite comfortably until I reverse the process at dawn."
"You are crazy, "  scoffed Rufus in disbelief. "I never heard of anything like that. I don't believe you!"
And he flew away leaving Anna shaking her head at the self-deluded bird who could not accept other than his own experience!
*****

Yes, of course my little story is silly ... but isn't it easier to see ourselves in the ridiculous?   How often are we prone to only  believe our own experiences?   We filter the outside world in through our own grid and sometimes deny the truth simply because we have not experienced it.
Call it closed minded, call it narrow minded, call it wearing blinders --   but those are terms that apply only  to others, never to ourselves, yet too often we are more governed by our own view,  the opinion of the masses,or what feeds our comfort zone than we are by our unbiased thoughtful consideration of all available information or wisdom.

We must determine what/who our ultimate source of reliable 'truth' is, to discern what our final belief rests on.
If it is 'self' -- what feels good to me, what makes sense in my own mind -- we are trusting ourselves to a very insecure 'anchor'   -- not unlike a climber trusting that a rope will secure him on his climb up a rock cliff when the rope is loosely fastened  to a twig at the cliff's top edge..
If it is the masses --  we all have seen the shifting sand of public opinion.   What holds their attention and passion one day is quickly forgotten the next day or moved to the opposite view point.
If it is the 'wisdom' of science --  anyone studying science (so called) can see the evolution of ever changing 'facts and conclusions'  as new evidence emerges to invalidate the previously held theories.
If it is personal experience -- you are limiting yourself to a very narrow source of 'input'.  No one person can experience all of life or all of life's situations or complexities.

There is, of course, only One Source of all Truth,  that is God and His revealed Word, the scriptures.   But even when we give mental ascent to holding that opinion,   we are still so often 'caught' unawares being influenced by a world view or popular opinion, or take the easy path of following without questioning the teaching/leading of a man.   Unless we are on guard, we will be confused or misled more often than we would care to admit.

I have been wondering more and more recently --  What if we REALLY believed the things Jesus said  - those words in red in most of our bibles - and made them our final word on how we conducted our life , our spoken words, thoughts and actions.    I have been struck lately that in determining a course of action or a conclusion Jesus' words are often not even considered.  Strange, isn't it? when He is the One that  holds all things together,  is our Creator, Saviour and Judge....  and in the end ONLY His words will matter.

"Jesus... asked His disciples, saying.'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man am?' 
So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 
He said to them...'But who do YOU say that I am?"    Matt.16:13-16 

If our answer is the same as Peter's response, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"  how does it show in how we live according to His words?  Are we truly His disciples? In training to be like Him?

All About Bears

One of my Christmas gifts from my three girls (daughter and granddaughters) were these absolutely adorable Bearington Bears.
They came with the message that they are my prayer bears and when I am suffering from an RA (rheumatoid arthritis) flare these bears are to remind me that my girls  are praying for me.  
A very touching gift!  Who wouldn't feel better with such cuddly reminders.

Sometimes I find English a strange language where the same word can be used to refer to completely opposite things.   Like 'bear' and 'bear' -  one is an animal and the other means 'to carry'.

So why does 'bear' have  two such extreme contrasts in meaning?    It actually was how the English words evolved over time.   The Old English words  started off being bera for the animal and the Latin verb for 'to carry' was baran while the adjective for 'made of bear-skin' was beren. In Middle English both words became 'bere' with different pronunciations   From there it was a short step to our usage of the word 'bear' as both animal and the verb 'to carry'.

Rather than a literal physical carrying of some object  we tend  to associate 'to bear' with the figurative meaning of  bearing one another's burdens.

When Moses was overwhelmed with his workload he was given good advice by his father-in-law. His father-in-law advised him to choose men qualified to help him in judging the people's conflicts, problems and complaints. He said..."So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you."  Ex. 18:22
We have a New Testament parallel ..
  "Bear one another burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ." Gal. 6:2.
 What is the law of Christ ?   The law of love!

But abstract understanding must be validated in my life by corresponding actions.
Can my bears teach me something about bearing burdens ?
I think so .....
1.  My bears feel sooo cuddly as they snuggle comfortably into my arms.   To bear someone's burden I too must fit comfortably into someone's need.  They must feel that I understand, that they do not have to be stiff or 'unreal' with me... they can be vulnerable and trust me.
2. My bears are soo soft.   To carry someone's burden I must be 'soft', not harsh or condemning or judgemental.
3. My bears do not offer pat answers, they make no demands.  To bear someone's burden listening is more important than offering advice -  offering my strength, my shoulder, my tears of compassion are more important than 'professional' formulas or prescriptions.
4. My bears are 'present'.   To bear someone's burden I have to be available, I must be where I can be reached when needed!
5. Just looking at my bears warms my heart and puts a smile on my face.   To bear someone's burden I desire to be someone that brings a wave of warmth to someone's chilled heart and let gentleness cause a smile to override tears on someone's face.
6. My bears are beautiful.  To walk alongside someone in compassion, carrying a burden together is indeed a beautiful thing to share -- both in giving and receiving.

I wish for all of us in the new year that we will be both 'burden bearers'  as well as never having to bear our burdens alone!  May we share both our joys to multiply them and our sorrows to divide them!

Wishing you , my dear friend, a very blessed 2013 where God is your center and your Source and His Presence and Love your dwelling place.

Stress Points

My most prized 'possession' is my embroidery/sewing machine.  I love what it can do .
I have been making some lace projects for Christmas gifts and I noticed that most designs have a stress point. That is, a weak spot in the design that the needle struggles to move over smoothly.  The needle will  bunch the thread under the presser foot, or tear away the backing or get stuck in one spot.   It is here that the project can be destroyed.
The stress points only show up in the process of working the design and are different in every design.  If I am watching I can prevent my work from being marred or spoiled.  I can stop and restart the needle,  I can add another layer of stabalizer , I can add some finger pressure to help guide the needle over the stress point.   If I have walked away or do not act quickly my project will be ruined.

I was sitting watching the machine work a design, anticipating the stress point coming up and my mind wandered to thinking about how we all have stress points in our life.
Each of us has a unique design of life pattern and in this 'pattern' we also have individual stress points.
For some a stress point may be a character weakness -  a quick temper or impatience.
For others it is a sudden change of plans in a day, or an unexpected delay.
It may be a season of grief or pain or suffering sickness or an accident.
It may be a difficult relationship.
It may be the stress of a holiday, like Christmas, where we can become overwhelmed with the list of things to do and the extra expenses of gifts and celebrations.

It is at these stress points that our day or our life can be disrupted or destroyed.
If we are anticipating and watching, we can prevent any serious damage.
Sometimes we need to add a layer of prayer, sometimes we need to stop and 'listen' and restart with God's Word,  sometimes we need the helping nudge of the Holy Spirit, or His enabling  to get us through the test or difficulty.

As I helped my machine slip over the stress point without a mar in my work, I was so thankful that I have Someone who sits and watches over me , to be ready to help at a time of need, always watching that His work in me will not be spoiled !

  "Now may the God of Peace...  make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."  Heb 13:20a,21

I listened to the governor of New Jersey on the news one morning addressing the then coming storm called Sandy.
 He  recognized that with all schools being closed, children would be listening to the TV.  So he addressed them directly.   He told them that they didn't need to be afraid, that their parents were with them or their caregivers.  The adults were in control of what needed to be done  to take care of things and the children would be safe and protected.

I thought about the children, that they would be calmed with the assurance that they could trust in the fact that the people who loved them would make sure they were safe.   They could rely on the wisdom and resources of adults making necessary provisions for their well being and protection.

But, much as I wanted the children to feel safe, I thought about how limited the care of the adults really was.  They too were  very vulnerable in the face of a terrible storm that was flooding streets, felling trees and breaking heavy branches, causing  traffic to come to a standstill , closing schools, airports, bridges and shutting off  electrical power, leaving millions of people to cope without it.  

Was the children's trust in parents misplaced ?  No, not in the sense that parents would do all that was in their power to protect and care for their families.    But, the problem is that their power is limited.  They can protect only so far ...  cope with the storm only as far as their resources and ability allowed.  They too are vulnerable - the only difference lies in the degree.

We as the children of our heavenly Father are also told not to worry, not to be afraid, that He will take care of us, keep us from all alarm.    Is the power of our Father limited ?  No.  His resources? No. His willingness or ability?   No.
So, I sometimes wonder...  why is it , that children so naturally and easily trust their 'imperfect' parents implicitly,  while we hold back and tremble even though our 'perfect' heavenly Father promises that all will be well.  

I love Psalm 121 .... I recently memorized it, it is such a wonderful Psalm of promise when storms of nature or life threaten us and unleash their power against our 'nest'.

                I will lift up my eyes unto the hills.  From whence comes MY help ??  

MY help comes from the Lord that made heaven and earth.    

He will not suffer your foot to be moved , he that keeps you will not slumber.  

He that keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  

The Lord is your keeper.  

He is the shade on your right hand.  

The sun shall not smite you by day nor the moon by night. 

The Lord will preserve you from all evil. 

He will preserve your soul.  

The Lord will preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, 

even forever more !