It is Wednesday Wisdom day at The Shared Journey. Story time!
And today we are looking at another aspect of our walk on earth as parents, grandparents, or just plain children of the universe here at TSJ. What inspired this sharing…besides the cancer journey with Tom was…a bird and a black cat!
As Tom and I are facing various detours in our personal design for our lives, due to what Tom calls “a shortened runway 
with some potholes,” I feel like it is time for me to share more openly about my belief that not only do we share our earth journey with others as humans, but we humans share this journey with God and His son and a host of angels or whoever the heavenly team might be that is present among us…(unseen but working behind the scenes on our behalf).
And it is this dimension that has comforted and directed my life since I was a young child. Without the help of other gentle giants in the faith I would not be who I am today. You see, most of you do not know the backstory to what has helped create the “who of me” that connects with “the who of you” and makes for a delightful mix of the “who of we” here at TSJ. Yes, that even includes the arrival of Solomon, our mascot, and eventually Solomon Junior (SJ)! We are multidimensional beings, thanks to our magnificent brains and our divine creator.
This is a difficult part of life’s journey for us. Yet, it is a time of miracle moments and eye-opening insights. We are learning to be grateful for it all. And the above quote has been a powerful reminder that we are not in it alone.
A BIRD …. A CAT…. AND ME
T..H..U..M..P! Whoa! What was that? I wondered.
Until that loud bang against the house, all was peaceful. The birds were feeding at our kitchen window feeder and I was studying something important (I am sure) at the kitchen table. The birds suddenly flew away and I “flew” out of my chair and looked out the window. I could hear some disturbance below. I ran downstairs to look out my office window (directly under the kitchen window) only to see a black cat devouring a good sized mourning dove. Awww.
If the truth be told I was hoping the bird feathers would get stuck in the cat’s throat. But they didn’t. And I realized with some sort of full awareness, this is the cycle of life. But I felt sad. Of course, I am very prone to feel sad quickly these days anyway. So this felt a bit disturbing.
Then, a little life lesson emerged. The bird only fell to this demise because it was so frightened it banged its head against the house in a desperate attempt to escape the black foreboding object below. And yet that bird had such an advantage over the cat that it need not have panicked. It flew into a frightful rage against what was happening. When all it had to do was observe it and fly higher. It’s salvation was in simply observing and using its God given wings to fly above the fray.
Are you banging your head against a wall of despair, worry, or anxiety? Are you frantically trying to escape something that is foreboding?
Just for today, Solomon says… practice remembering that you are not alone.
As a believer in the Christ who was also human and knew he needed to stay constantly connected with the Father, I too must remember to perch more quietly on a branch far above the black cat of fear and be still. (By the way that cat is beautiful and deserves to eat…but makes for a good story)
Inner stillness is something hard to claim, but it can be found in the midst of our noisy lives. We just have to invite it in to our consciousness. And for me, that means recognizing the Shepherd of our minds and souls is always on duty.
Solomon sits next to me where Tom placed him this morning and says, “See. I told you so. But you had to learn from the dumb ol’ bird. You wouldn’t just believe me.”
Playing in the pastures and flying above the pain when possible. Thank you all for your private emails and letters, art work, and gifts of love…mostly the gift of what I have been calling…”the who of you.”
Margie and Solomon (with glasses to remind us of a new perspective)
