Well, we are almost home, and I've noticed something that is actually surprising to me: almost every person we've met on the road is nice.
Sure some are obnoxious, some are crude, and some are clueless about other person's feelings... but there is a niceness in each person I've met.
How much of our lives are wasted protecting ourselves from imaginary evil? I know something about evil, and it sucks... which is why our Lord told us how to pray... "Deliver us from evil...".
That's not my point. I find myself reflecting on how I've barricaded myself from an amazing world, instead of cautiously adventuring into it.
It's like that in "bear country".
A bear for the most part is an opportunistic feeder, and does not seek out humans in order to torment or destroy them. The bear just wants the peanut butter cookies you packed for the campout. That's why in every park we hiked there were signs that instructed us to put all food or scented items in the bear lockers, or at least locked inside the vehicle.
The signs did not say, "Oh my God, flee for your lives and never come back to this pristine wilderness... there are bears here!" Truth is... we never saw a bear during the one month of travels, but the majesty of jagged peaks towering over glacial valleys, ancient forests and trout rivers were available at every turn.
The mutated addage may go something like, "He couldn't see the forest because of the... bears.
God-- grant me the courage to live my life with adventure, the shalom to abide in Your presence, and the wisdom in knowing what to do if I ever meet the bear.
God's blessings,
Jim
Sure some are obnoxious, some are crude, and some are clueless about other person's feelings... but there is a niceness in each person I've met.
How much of our lives are wasted protecting ourselves from imaginary evil? I know something about evil, and it sucks... which is why our Lord told us how to pray... "Deliver us from evil...".
That's not my point. I find myself reflecting on how I've barricaded myself from an amazing world, instead of cautiously adventuring into it.
It's like that in "bear country".
A bear for the most part is an opportunistic feeder, and does not seek out humans in order to torment or destroy them. The bear just wants the peanut butter cookies you packed for the campout. That's why in every park we hiked there were signs that instructed us to put all food or scented items in the bear lockers, or at least locked inside the vehicle.
The signs did not say, "Oh my God, flee for your lives and never come back to this pristine wilderness... there are bears here!" Truth is... we never saw a bear during the one month of travels, but the majesty of jagged peaks towering over glacial valleys, ancient forests and trout rivers were available at every turn.
The mutated addage may go something like, "He couldn't see the forest because of the... bears.
God-- grant me the courage to live my life with adventure, the shalom to abide in Your presence, and the wisdom in knowing what to do if I ever meet the bear.
God's blessings,
Jim
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