Today I was watching a group of children playing tag. One child ran quite a ways across the playground. When he touched the wall he yelled “Safety Zone”. His pursuer stopped, changed course and ran to catch another stray kid. There was also another child who stayed very close to the Safety Zone. One hand almost touching the wall constantly. He never was more than a step or two away from the wall. The first boy as soon as his predator was locked on to the next target, took off like a rocket back across the playground into what I assumed to be the Unsafe Zone.
At first I thought the child that stayed close to the safe zone the more wise and prudent child. The other child I considered to be unwise and quite careless. However, after a few moments it became quite clear who was having more fun. The child that hugged the wall was never even on the radar of the “it” child. His fear kept him quite safe, but also quite out of the loop. As the game wound down, the children running everywhere went on to something new. But the child in the “Safety Zone” lingered there awhile longer unsure of what had happened to the game.
We have Safety Zones all around us daily. We have bicycle lane Safety Zones, we have school, work, sport, parking, and playground safety zones. What personal “Safety Zones” do we have? Do they really keep us safe, or do they keep us from fully engaging in a world of endless opportunities and possibilities?
An elephant as an infant is cuffed to a chain and stake, limiting it's ability to move around. As this elephant grows and becomes an adult the cuff and chain remain the same. Even a small pull in a new direction would surely grant freedom. But he has learned that when the cuff is present he cannot be free. His shackle keeps him in the safety zone of someone else's making.
I am not advocating caution to the wind. I am merely suggesting that if we do not frequently test the safety zones in our lives, progression is very limited. Open your heart and your mind to something new, and yes sometimes intimidating. Take more then a few shuffles from the boundaries we create for ourselves. Or, remain “safe” thinking and doing the same thing over and over, but expecting the same result.....wait that is what insanity is. Do YOU always color in the lines?
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The C Warriors
The tiniest among man, teach us truths of a complicated world. A battle even more personal then the mightiest of wars. For our wars of men and nations have a known enemy, a purpose, a meaning.
Yet a war more deadly and even farther reaching, is a war upon a disease we can not see. And often cannot detect until the very fibers of the being are fully engaged in hazardous combat. In other words a disease with no rational purpose or meaning.
Through these tiny militant children, we find treasures of smiles through pain and discomfort. Giggles even during the pricks and pains. An amazing resilience, and adaptability occurs in these warriors. A grown man can flinch at a single shot of medicine, but these children brave them daily, and hourly. Faced with a strong countenance we do not expect to reflect in ourselves.
Their small active bodies attached to a multitude of wires and tubes, that make the simplest hugs a process of delicate maneuvers. Yet love stays in their eyes and hearts. They rebound after difficulty, quickly and with finesse. I do not even begin to say these children do not have bad days, they do. But they are not ever fully defeated even in death.
Can we state that we do so similarly and so bravely? I have a flat tire and my day seems destroyed? We get discouraged at a mess, or a simple poor grade. Do we rebound from our struggles as surely and as quickly a C warrior does?
A nurse the aide to these tiny warriors, angels in their right. Come in to treat a child, and cause them hurt sometimes in order to help heal. The bravery of these angels that assist families and children through their darkest hardest trials they will ever face in their lives. These angels come back day by day to nourish, educate, and inspire all those effected, that is courage to keep going even when not successful, warrior after warrior. No matter the outcome their work continues. They become a moving and functional arm of the family unit. These tiny warriors gather them to the fold, adding strength and understanding. Tiny combatants that take the medicine sugar or not. Having these angles poke and prod in sometimes painful ways, I have seen that child quickly regain that smile and hug so immediately all is forgiven, like their souls know the good that is being done to help them. We have much to learn from these little C warriors.
But something special happens to all those affected by this masked and terrible killer. A gift. A gift more precious and certainly one of the strongest gifts in all of life. The best life is not always the ones that live the longest, have the best job, or the most money. Its the ones who like our C warriors, make each day, a good day. A cherished day. A prayerful day. The type of day God always intended all of his people to have in the first place.....A joyful day.
My nephew is not a victum in this battle, he is a the warrior. No matter what path his tiny foot treds. No matter how long upon this earth he roams. Whether he always remain clean from the war or not. He cannot fail, if the people around always remember his gift to us. Life is to be lived. Winds will blow. Will we surround ourselves with angels and other warriors of life. Or will we simple sit and wait to be lived upon.
These are some of the things I have learned from my nephew Mason who in his short 4 years has taught me a life time of lessons, to which I owe him and his family, my prayers, my loyalty, my faith, and best of all, my hope. I have hope, hope for a beautiful life for all the Lords tiny Warriors, hope for more good days then bad ones, hope for continued blessings from heaven. Hope for a cure.
Yet a war more deadly and even farther reaching, is a war upon a disease we can not see. And often cannot detect until the very fibers of the being are fully engaged in hazardous combat. In other words a disease with no rational purpose or meaning.
Through these tiny militant children, we find treasures of smiles through pain and discomfort. Giggles even during the pricks and pains. An amazing resilience, and adaptability occurs in these warriors. A grown man can flinch at a single shot of medicine, but these children brave them daily, and hourly. Faced with a strong countenance we do not expect to reflect in ourselves.
Their small active bodies attached to a multitude of wires and tubes, that make the simplest hugs a process of delicate maneuvers. Yet love stays in their eyes and hearts. They rebound after difficulty, quickly and with finesse. I do not even begin to say these children do not have bad days, they do. But they are not ever fully defeated even in death.
Can we state that we do so similarly and so bravely? I have a flat tire and my day seems destroyed? We get discouraged at a mess, or a simple poor grade. Do we rebound from our struggles as surely and as quickly a C warrior does?
A nurse the aide to these tiny warriors, angels in their right. Come in to treat a child, and cause them hurt sometimes in order to help heal. The bravery of these angels that assist families and children through their darkest hardest trials they will ever face in their lives. These angels come back day by day to nourish, educate, and inspire all those effected, that is courage to keep going even when not successful, warrior after warrior. No matter the outcome their work continues. They become a moving and functional arm of the family unit. These tiny warriors gather them to the fold, adding strength and understanding. Tiny combatants that take the medicine sugar or not. Having these angles poke and prod in sometimes painful ways, I have seen that child quickly regain that smile and hug so immediately all is forgiven, like their souls know the good that is being done to help them. We have much to learn from these little C warriors.
But something special happens to all those affected by this masked and terrible killer. A gift. A gift more precious and certainly one of the strongest gifts in all of life. The best life is not always the ones that live the longest, have the best job, or the most money. Its the ones who like our C warriors, make each day, a good day. A cherished day. A prayerful day. The type of day God always intended all of his people to have in the first place.....A joyful day.
My nephew is not a victum in this battle, he is a the warrior. No matter what path his tiny foot treds. No matter how long upon this earth he roams. Whether he always remain clean from the war or not. He cannot fail, if the people around always remember his gift to us. Life is to be lived. Winds will blow. Will we surround ourselves with angels and other warriors of life. Or will we simple sit and wait to be lived upon.
These are some of the things I have learned from my nephew Mason who in his short 4 years has taught me a life time of lessons, to which I owe him and his family, my prayers, my loyalty, my faith, and best of all, my hope. I have hope, hope for a beautiful life for all the Lords tiny Warriors, hope for more good days then bad ones, hope for continued blessings from heaven. Hope for a cure.
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