Matthew did it again. He stumped me…made me think long and hard about what he was thinking about when he took the bin of Mr. Potato Head parts, pulled all the arms out and laid them…I guess you would call it shoulder to hand in a line down our hallway. It was an interesting sight that I knew someday I would write about so I took a picture and filed it away. I know, first of all, I need to explain why we have so many Mr. Potato Head arms…it is kind of freaky looking. But, we have learned that when we find something that motivates Matthew and keeps his attention we scour garage sales and buy as many arms, eyes and teeth we can find…for some unknown reason they are a delicacy, much like caviar.
Back to the line…As we are entering into fall and the leaves are being changed into a beautiful canvas of yellows, reds and orange we are hearing in our part of the North the familiar sounds of honking. Not of car horns but of Canadian geese on their way through Michigan on their way South for the winter months. It is quite interesting watching them fly overhead barking orders at each other, each one taking their place in the front of the line to take their turn at cutting the resistance of the wind and allowing the others in line to take a rest and kind of coast along with the formation…the farther back in line the lesser the resistance.
We all need to go to the back of the line from time-to-time to regenerate, regroup and to define a better path or plan to get back to the front…but, we were never meant to stay there. We are all designed and gifted to make our way to the front and take our turn at leading the formation once in a while…why do we seem content at just staying in the back. Consider the following blog post I read recently:
Which are you? …competent, inspiring, passionate, hungry, driven, adoring, inspired, an artist, a genious, someone who cares…? With all these remarkable, powerful, important options available to each of us, why do so many of us default to competent? Seth Godin
When we are comfortable and content with competent we lose the ability to be all those other things. When we begin to conform to popular thinking we lose the ability to think on our own. This past weekend I was enjoying watching a few movies with our two year old daughter Sarah Anne. One of the movies was A Bug’s Life (Disney|Pixar 1998). The following scene from the movie reminded me of the arms that Matthew lined up down our hallway:
“[a leaf falls in front of one of the worker ants in the food line]
Worker Ant #1: I’m lost! Where’s the line? It just went away. What do I do? What do I do?
Worker Ant #2: Help!
Worker Ant #3: We’ll be stuck here forever!
Mr. Soil: Do not panic, do not panic. We are trained professionals. Now, stay calm. We are going around the leaf.
Worker Ant #1: Around the leaf. I-I-I don’t think we can do that.
Mr. Soil: Oh, nonsense. This is nothing compared to the twig of ’93”. A Bug’s Life (1998)
When we are consumed by watching the news, how bad the economy is, who divorced who in Hollywood, the real lives of some housewives, who tweeted what, there are no jobs out there…It’s no wonder we can’t see beyond or around the leaves in our paths.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.Psalm 119:103-105
What happens when a leaf falls in your path? Do you panic like ant #1, #2 and #3 or are you taking time to condition yourself to be able to respond with a calculated plan already formulated by truth and understanding as Mr. Soil does? Or, are you conditioned to respond with negativity, despair, doubt and frustration?
My prayer this next week is to follow the path and not just the person in front of me…to see over and beyond the leaves thrown in my path.
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