The Rabbit
Am I still?
The Rabbit
Am I? Still?
It was sometime in my late twenties, four decades ago, this image unbidden came to me. I felt very cautious, often fearful…
Like a Rabbit. Probably a cotton tail.
Pictures all compliments of Clement Charles LLC. Cottontail in Ballyvaugn and the Burren in County Clare, Ireland.
I scurried here and there, from protective cover to protective cover. Always alert was I, to every present danger of being a rabbit. Of course, the big one was the predators. A cougar, coyote, wolves, packs of dogs, maybe a stray cat and of course, the eagle. These were the worst as they usually came without a moment’s notice from above.
These are things I thought I was running from, with good cause. I darted here and there, often in fear. Four plus decades later I still feel like that rabbit at times. Something was chasing me. I knew it.
Then the old lightbulb that used to fire consistently in my brain, blinked a blazing light, far beyond an ‘Eureka’ moment. I realized What I thought was chasing me…
Was Him.
Only I figured out, if a rabbit I still am, there is no chasing going on. He is just watching. Waiting for a moment to protect me from one of those ‘predators’. He helped me many times from straying down the rabbit hole, like Alice did. Look what happened to her!
As for the predators, they ceased being things like cougars and such. Though, where I call home, in the Great Pacific Northwest, as a human created in His Image and Likeness, you do need to be aware when you venture ‘out there’, into nature. Here, in the last vestiges of the wild wild west, we still have creatures willing to eat you.
No, the predators of today are things like anxiety, despair, depression, abuse by a loved one, a family disowning one of their own – the black sheep. I wrote a missive about such things once.
I called them demons.
For they are. They ceaselessly tear at the tapestry of my soul, one tapestry amongst numbers uncountable, going back to the beginning of time, yet all tied together by the same Thread and threads connecting… us. The ‘predators’ want to destroy these threads, often fraying them little by little until they break…
Oh, the symptoms are many. For more than you can imagine, there are millions of people wondering from where the next meal is coming. Or to buy food and skip the meds needed to keep me going to do His will. Those of us lucky enough to have a roof over are heads worry about making the next house payment or rent.
It is difficult to slay these demons. I must have help. A great spouse is one. In that I am lucky beyond any man on earth. The biggest is Him.
I am safe. He defends me. Tells me so with His Word.
I just turn all these battles with soul eaters over to Him. Believe. It is okay I let Him carry the burden for these types of battles. He has already defeated them by the ultimate sacrifice…
Laying His life down for another. No greater thing can a human do for another. In His case – he gave His life for every single one of us, past, present and future.
I can’t be a candy store Christian, selecting those treats only I want, needs be damned. I turn over all the burdens. I seek only to do His will, and to Him goes all the credit for everything I do, for all my successes, rescues from failures with the lesson learned, surviving His refinement by fire, bailing me out of a crisis when needed, and especially helping all others, all humans like me.
Once you make this leap all becomes so much easier…
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” NAB Matthew 11:28-30
I know. I did it. It worked.
I must practice it daily, many times a day. Practice makes perfect, like “our Heavenly Father is Perfect!” It is the only way to allow Him to carry my burdens. Come on, He died an abandoned horrible death, just so I could be saved from the predators, the demons, minions of the father of all lies.
Critical…
§ Never stop thanking Him, for all He is, for all He gave, for all He gives me every day. Live a life of gratitude for what I do have, no matter how little or great.
§ Praise Him for what He did, does, will do until time is no more.
§ See Him in everything and every one of us, because He Is, there! Rejoice, Feel His Joy! Feel the showers of His constant Grace.
§ Most of all tell Him constantly I love Him. Remember my works are always credited to Him, not me. In my efforts, love all, every single human, even if it’s paying a compliment to a cashier, thanking someone who helped you reach something you couldn’t, cracking a joke whenever possible to make the person laugh. Make friends with a perceived enemy or a grouchy grumpy soul.
Making people laugh is a great blessing.
One I enjoy tremendously, because of Him. He filled my genes with this gift, like my father before me.
Just don’t feel like a rabbit anymore. It’s time to help Him help the other ‘still’ rabbits.
Clement
Sharing the road in County Clare, the Burren Mountains in the background, the tallest over three thousand feet above sea level. Compliments of Clement Charles LLC