Pictures from around the world cross my screen each day. Yesterday I was blessed to open mail from an E friend residing in our nation's northern neighbor. Many thanks go out this morning to Joni for providing the fun fodder for my thoughts and your entertainment.
Black bear are not all that large. The one you see above is probably quite young, and no more than 500 pounds. Should you have the opportunity to get to know one of these in their natural habitat, they are very much like dogs, and can be quite friendly. The thing I enjoy the most about them is their intellect. They aren't very smart, and if able to speak would be totally challenged in their latter stages of adulthood to cope with the brains my 4 year old grandaughter, Kyra. Presuming that this makes them fairly bright beasts what you are seeing here is one of their most endearing attributes, curiosity. My mind did an immediate shift when I saw these pics(there were many more in the series)of this black satisfying his\her enquiring mind. That is so like one of them. Their eyesight is notorious(worse than mine without glasses), and their bulk would tend toward awkwardness if not for that brain they have that makes them wonderful for children of all ages when it comes to the circus. This depiction of temperment reminds me of many of today's young people. What is that? What's it doing there? I 'have' to check this out! If there were a group of them they would, more than likely, all try this same feat. It's sort of cool when you think about it! We all went through that stage in our growing, that time when instinct had us following in whatever happened to be the moment's curiosity. Where would you find yourself in this picture? Some looked up and saw the birdfeeder thing and walked on without indulging their curious side. Others followed up the tree, but hesitated to traverse the rope. Many more tried the same stunt with varying results. Some arriving with no idea of how to get back. Many falling to the ground only to find themselves looking up and feeling the pain brought on by the attempt. Many would climb higher to gain a different perspective, and a few would lose interest rapidly and start looking around for something else to do.
In our faith walk many of us see the "House of God" hanging out there between the streets in much the same way. Throwing all of our learned, preconceived notions to the wind we may go through one, or several, of the bear's activities. We may not even be aware of what it is we are seeking, but there just might be something there if we can get to it. The bear exemplifies the tenacity of the spirit which kept it trying different ways to arrive at it's goal until achieving success. Diligence and perseverance are the keys that will enable us to reach that goal, and when we get to that feeder we may learn there is nothing in it that we can eat, and so it is with the Lord's house. You may have to go through all of the approaches over and over until you find the one that does feed you, spiritually. In our humaness we often follow the crowd, or attempt to, only to find ourselves flat on our backsides hurting. There is a truth here, though. If we make the effort to get there we will find that the house was 'not' our objective as we began our climb. It is the food of the spirit which the house holds that we are in need of reaching. If you've been seeing that "house" or actually "been there and done that" and it wasn't what you thought it would be, take heart! There will always be another one out there somewhere, and the next time you may find just the sustenance you are seeking. My Savior is always there, hanging out, waiting for you to taste and see that the Lord is good! God bless, Preacher.
