Huff Post
These words of prophetic wisdom were delivered, last week, to me at the very height of my own crisis, from a very close friend and mentor, a spiritual warrior, who, as of late, has endured many valleys of his own, yet still continues on his daily trek toward that not-so-distant, insurmountable summit. Diabetes, a leg amputation and now dialysis may have set him back a day or two on his marvelous journey through this life, but still he presses onward and upward, each and every day, with a song in his heart and a smile on his face. Oh, if we all could catch his indescribable joy. It’s an internal happiness that is truly contagious and a far reaching testament to his tried and true faith.
That being said, no matter what we are currently facing in our own tumultuous journeys, no matter how hard we try to make lemonade out of the lemons in our daily lives, we must never forget that someone is in charge. He knows what’s good for us, by viewing in totality our “big picture,” while many of us in crisis are only experiencing the immediate impacts of the moment.
It just so happened on this glorious spring morning, I noticed the ruby red-throated hummingbirds were no longer coming to their feeder. From a distance, the feeder looked absolutely normal and over half full. But once I meandered, up close and personal, I noticed the mixture, though still red in color, was stagnant with all kinds of nasty stuff floating throughout it. No wonder these fellas were avoiding it. It looked good and pleasing from afar, but once the birds tasted it, it must have been rank. Needless to say, I would not have touched it either.
I proceeded to empty all the spoiled contents, wash and clean it thoroughly and refill it with fresh hummingbird food. Within two minutes of re-hanging it, they were back, non stop; and are now happy once again. So it goes with our lives sometimes. We absolutely look fine from the outside, but inside, we have become stagnant and rank and in need of a good cleaning, washing and replenishing.
