A Different View

One sunny morning a few weeks ago, I was sitting in the chair in our living room, and something in the backyard caught my attention.  Through my peripheral vision, I saw a strange movement.  I paused what I was doing and looked outside more fully.  I was shocked to discover a squirrel hanging upside down, by his toes, nibbling on a berry in the neighbor’s tree.

In 47 years, I had never seen a squirrel hanging upside down to eat.  We have squirrels everywhere.  They are always running around, chasing each other, burying nuts, and doing acrobatics on the fence and trees, but I’d never seen one dangling from a tree like a snake.

I thought for sure it must be an anomaly, but a quick Google search revealed just how common it is.  Regardless, I couldn’t stop watching the squirrel, contentedly dangling from the flimsiest branch in the tree, eating a treat without a care in the world.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that squirrel ever since.

I’m sure you’ve noticed a lot is happening in the world at the moment.  I guess the truest thing is that there has always been a lot happening in the world - that really hasn’t changed.  It just somehow feels heavier to me right now.

I was on a Zoom call this week with a group of spiritual directors, and each person shared how they were coming to the meeting that day.  I described how I could feel tears just below the surface all of the time right now.  So much sadness.  So much grief.  So much heartbreak.  It just feels heavy.

Something about that squirrel keeps coming to mind when I think about the heaviness.  The way he is fully living the life he was created to live.  The way he trusts that there will be food to eat and shelter from the rain.  The way that he delights in what is going on around him and knows that being present in that moment, dangling from the tree, snacking on berries is enough.

I find myself wanting to fix all that is broken in the world.  Shockingly, that is not an obtainable desire.  It’s actually a little bananas.  Instead, I have to keep asking the question - what is mine to do?  Because it isn’t everything.

That squirrel dangling from the tree keeps popping into my mind.  So relaxed.  So at ease.

I want that.  And it feels selfish.

So, today, I find myself holding that tension.  Trying to figure out the ways I can make the world around me a safer, more loving, more beautiful place while also knowing there will continue to be heartache and pain until Jesus returns and makes all things new.

Today, I hope that each of us will experience moments of delight - spaces of abandon where we can hang upside down and feast - relaxed and at ease.  

~  Melissa