Safety

The oddest things cause one to change direction.  The color of a sunset can trigger a memory which in turns takes one’s heart to one loved.  The smell of spring can give birth to a reincarnation of yesterday’s act of kindness and forgiveness.  The beauty found within a simple act of courtesy or kindness can draw one back to the path of compassion.  Just a positive triggers draw one to things new so can fear.  The reality of life is simple that when “the springs of Nimrim are dried up—grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows.  They [metaphorically you, the rest of the community and me] leave, carrying all their possessions on their backs, everything they own, making their way as best they can across Willow Creek to safety.” (Isaiah 15.6, 7)  Fear, seeing life for what it really is, and any kind of awareness brings us to safety.
 
I find myself looking at safety and a life of compassion in the same breath.  It isn’t that I consider being in the light safe, quite the contrary.  I do find both share something in common which reflects the thirst and need of the soul; true peace.    When I run from fear what I seek is peace.  When I turn from uncertainty my longing is for peace.  When doubts overwhelm, it is peace I turn to for comfort and assurance.  The only place I have consistently found peace is on a path of unconditional, unmerited, compassion.  As I give to others what God gives to you and me, I find peace.  As I look at my community as God looks at me, I find peace.  As I walk as God would walk, I am in peace.
 
Today’s spring sunrise comes with a gentle breeze of hope.  Everything is possible yet the world is a dangerous place.  People are dying.  People are starving.  People are in fear.  We can find peace and in turn give it away.  The process starts within, responding to the true loving God which makes our heart home.  Peace can be touched and experienced.