Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Lessons from the crow

First of all...my parents guest bathroom shower is the most amazing place to sing!! Reign in Us never sounded so good! I bet God gets a kick out of that kind of stuff.

Today was interesting...not a whole lot, out of the ordinary, happened. I came to spend the night at my parents because I was feeling a little blue after counseling today. I usually have to process what goes on in counseling for about 24 hours afterwards. And, yes, counseling is my sanity! It's a love/hate relationship, but seeing how much God has brought me through in the past year with counseling is pretty amazing. Which brings me to what God clearly showed me the other day...and how I fully understand that today.

Lesson #1--I had gotten to dinner pretty early so I thought that I would read my Bible. I know, you're shocked...me too! But, I found myself fascinated with the complexity of life around me which taught me some very simple lessons. I was sitting outside and there was some food sitting on the table next to me about 10 feet from the trash can. There was a half smashed brown paper bag hanging from the trash can and it apparently still had some food in it. I was watching a crow go from the ground to the top of the trash can over and over and over again. It was trying to no avail to pull the contents of the bag out to snack on. Now, mind you, there is still a plate of food on the table next to me out for the taking. This crow insisted on trying to peck at the bag from the top of the can and from the railing and from every which way. The bag was not moving. So, after watching this for about 5 minutes the crow gave up and went on its way to scavenge something else.
Lesson #2--After watching the crow fly away in disdain, I noticed that across the parking lot there was a guy washing the windows at the Dairy Queen. He was so methodical in his motions that I couldn't help but watch. First, he would just kind of throw the soap on the window like he didn't care where it went. But, then, pulling from top to bottom he would take the squeegee and very slowly wipe the dirt and grime off of the glass.

Why, you ask, am I writing about crows and window washing!?! I realized the meaning today...

So often I don't see the perfectly good food sitting on the table because I am so busy trying to pull the shit out of the trash can. I forget that what God has for me is so immeasurably better than anything that I try to dig out myself. Also, while I look so intently at the trash can I forget that someone is watching me...wanting something so much more for me than the garbage of this world. And when the kid threw the soap on the windows I could just see that as my sin and my garbage thrown up in God's face...and without hesitation, he slowly wiped the dirt, filth, grime, jealousy, hate, lust, envy, bitterness, and selfishness(I'm quite sure I've left a few... or a few thousand off) away to reveal a clean, clear as day window for us to look through.

So, I wonder how many simple and beautiful lessons, through the complexity of His creation, I have missed because I have not been still and known that He is God.

Man, I haven't even touched what I really wanted to write about tonight, but again, sleep calls my name. I had so many interesting thoughts today and wish that on occasion I could record every thought that crosses my mind. Like I said...on occasion. I would be terrified if it could happen all the time!

1 comment:

Jason J said...

All I can say is Amen. That was awesome and thank you for sharing those valuable lessons. I don't think we could hear them enough.

I hate it that I often wallow in the never ending supply of mudpies when I could simply feast at His table all that He has for me. Will we ever learn?