CONSIDER THE SQUIRRELS

The bareness of the winter trees allows me to closely watch the squirrels that have become my morning companions.  Their homes are plentiful in the tall trees, intricately built to withstand they elements they are exposed to on a daily basis; wind, rain, snow, cold.  Every morning I watch these creatures perform death defying acts on the tallest tree limbs as they scurry up and down them, performing their morning routine.  Everyday is pretty much the same for them; clean themselves on a branch, gather food, run around campus for awhile, sit in the sun and rest.  I find myself wondering what they think about; what their take on life is.  I have enjoyed companionship with several squirrels throughout the years.  They know me and I knew them; a few so well that they would actually knock on my window if I was tardy in feeding them, and one even would eat out of my hand.

 At times I am envious of these creatures.  They know how to do life simple and well.  They have shelter and food, and seem to be content with that.  It makes them a lot freer than me.  I have stuff; lots of stuff.  I love my stuff but it ties me down.  I have worked at not accumulating more, but I find it difficult to de-accumulate what I have.  I don’t generally reread books but for some unknown reason I find comfort in keeping them around me on bookshelves.  The same with my writing; when I try and go through boxes of papers written years ago, it ends up returning to the keep box, leaving the discard box empty.

If I had a permanent house with an attic, that is where all this stuff would be, waiting for someone to come, after my death, and throw it all out.  Putting that in writing makes it seem even more ridiculous to safe all this stuff; moving it around as I try and find a place to settle down for me and my stuff.  They seem like children that never grew up and still remain living at home; burdens, but lovely burdens I can’t throw out.

All these books and papers are good stuff.  The world is full of good stuff.  The study of theology and religion has filled libraries with books and seminaries with students; there are even more books, seminars, programs, and material telling me how to live and plan my life well.  I could accumulate all this knowledge and wisdom until the cows come home.  Or I could watch the squirrels; consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.