Nature just is a part of me. True, I've never lived in it like a wild aborigine, but there is a part of me that feels alive only when I am in the middle of all that is the earth. I love greenery in all its many shades, the fragrance of soil, blossoms and pine, the feel of wind blowing my hair, the desperation that ensues for a Claritin tablet - I love it all.
There was this goose on the road I was taking home. It was crossing the small two lane road. Traffic was halted and all I could do was smile as the goose just couldn't make up its mind. It squawked at the nearby cars, beak wide, almost as though it was honking "This is my road. Get off it." It made me think how it had farm fields and near by ponds all for the taking but it wanted to be here near the road where it could get hurt, where it could cause trouble.
We like to think we are smarter than animals or at least birds but I don't think we are. Don't we, who have the whole world as our oyster, choose always the one thing we shouldn't? All we have is never enough for us, we have to look across the fence at someone else's yard. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6, ""All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything." I think we often enslave ourselves by careless choice. I'm going to share a profound nugget of wisdom I heard from all places, a Kid Rock interview . He was asked about his four month marriage to Pamela Anderson:
"Did you think it was a forever thing?" asked Smith.
"I thought it could be, yeah," Ritchie replied. "I wouldn't of gone in like that if I didn't."
The sting of the breakup changed his view of relationships.
"Uh-huh, yeah, you touch a hot stove, you get burnt, don't touch it anymore," he said.
"So that was basically it? What do you mean?"
"Oh, I didn't touch the stove, I like put both hands on it and held 'em there for like an hour!" he laughed. "I don't even go near the stove anymore."
There is something about what he said that stayed with me even though I saw the interview last November on CBS Sunday Morning. I think we all have an affinity at times to things that aren't good for us and being "smart" is learning what those things are and avoiding them. These things aren't always recognizable but sometimes there wrongness is just blatant and we pretend it's not there. What is the definition of insanity? Doing the exact same thing over and over expecting different results. The minute we hear the word "No," suddenly that object, want, desire becomes the only thing that exists for us. Forget everything else - wisdom, decency, maturity. Raspberry sound. Nope. We're not to bright.
I'm rambling. I guess the gist of all this is me thinking about what Paul said, "All things are lawful for me, BUT not all things are helpful." It's lawful to stand near a dangerous road sure but is it helpful? xo
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