Your Superhero Identity

by Sheri

I have begun to wonder if part of my problem is that I am not quite domesticated.  On my walks in the morning I have opportunity to see many deer.  They are always on alert with their ears perked up to catch the slightest sound.  When they hear us coming their heads come up and their white-flag tails raise.  Soon they are bounding away from me and my oh so threatening basset hound.
Wild animals must be alert like this for the sake of their survival.  There seems to be a part of me that is always on alert too.  Part of my mind is always searching to find some new thing to worry about.  The safety of my family is always on my mind.  I love my children with every fiber of my being and the thought of something happening to them is enough to send my mind bounding away on another string of imagined terrors.  I long for my family to be completely and utterly safe.

I think this longing for security is the biggest drive behind many of the things we do.  Money and possessions give a sense of security.  After all money can buy food, a home in a safe neighborhood and better health care.  Still we find their are other dangers out there, so we work and worry to accumulate more money.  We live in a relatively safe country but all the "what ifs" are still out there.  Sometimes they even become a stark reality as they did ten years ago on September 11.  So, we accumulate more weapons, more military might thinking surely that will make us safe.

It won't.  As long as anyone in the world suffers then none of us are safe.  For example, if there is a person living on the streets due to mental illness then we are all just a few misfiring synapses away from homelessness.  As long as there are starving children in the world then we are all just a drought or  disaster away from watching our children ache with hunger too.  As long as there is violence in the world, whether we are the perpetrators or not, we are all in danger.

I have come to the realization that the best way to keep my children safe is to do what I can to move the world toward peace, justice, and mercy for all people.  As I contemplated writing a check for charity this week, I reminded myself of that.  As I contemplated writing this blog I reminded myself of that.  No amount of money will make my children safe.  Saying popular things will not keep my children safe.  Living generously just might make them a little safer.

We all want to be superheroes for our loved ones, swooping in and saving them from any danger.  But have you ever noticed how many explosions happen around superheroes?  This does not increase safety.  Real-life superheroes are people who work to make the world a better place through generosity, mercy, and working for justice and peace.   For most of us being this type of superhero won't mean charging off to Africa. Most of us will work for peace and justice in the little things we do every day: what we teach our children, what we buy, small acts of kindness.

You can be a superhero.  You can even pick out your own superhero name.  I call dibs on "Mighty Mom".  I think my cape will be an apron.  After all, home cooked meals strike a blow for the environment, healthy living, and financial stewardship.   Instead of X-ray vision, Mighty Mom has the power to see past messes to take time for her children.   She wears consumerism deflecting sweatpants and sustainably-produced food enhancing garden gloves and chore boots.  Next time I can't sleep because I am worrying about my children, I will ponder what the rest of my superhero persona might be.

What is your superhero persona? Give it some thought and please share.  (I think Mighty Mom also carries clothes pins so that she is equipped to handle housework emergencies in an environmentally friendly manner..."What's that? Someone has wet clothes that need drying? I am on my way!"... Thinking this stuff up is too fun! Join in the fun and please comment!)

Frame of Mind

What do you see in this picture?

a) Uggh.  More dirty dishes to clean.
b) Yippee! Someone's been baking!
c) @#$%#! There goes my diet!

For those of you who answered "a", put down the dish cloth , set aside the broom, and take a deep breath.  Relax.  For those who answered "c", remember cyber-food has no calories.  For those who answered "b", good for you!  Way to have a positive frame of mind!  Or maybe you're just hungry.

But, seriously, how we look at life makes a difference.  A few weeks ago I posted a blog about the work of peace-making and some of you responded with some trepidation or despair that you could not possibly find the time to do more work.  Sometimes I don't realize how things sound until you respond.  I really wasn't intending to burden anyone with more things they should be doing.  I guess I was really thinking more about a frame of mind.  If we believe that peace is possible, if we believe there can be creative responses to age old problems, if we hold these things in our hearts and our minds then we will be changed.  When we change our frame of mind or our hearts then we will be open to it when opportunity comes for us to help work for peace and justice.  We will be open to hearing God's call when God calls us to action or prayer or generosity.  We might even rethink how we interact with other people in our lives
         or how we teach our children
                                         or how we vote.

The news is full of stories of woe.  The problems seem so big it is easy to become cynical.  It is crucially important to keep hope alive.  We can make a difference.  Good things and amazing transformations can happen.  I am not sure that I realized how all the negativity was affecting me until I read this article: http://www.worldvisionacts.org/victory_against_hunger  I was so energized by reading that the generosity of the past has radically reduced the suffering of today in at least this one case.  Being swamped with bad news, as we often are, can make us feel like it doesn't really make any difference what we do.  When hope is alive we can and will make a difference.

I am not talking here about close your eyes to the dark, sunshiny optimism.  The realities of the world are indeed harsh, very harsh.  But they are not without hope.  We need not feel defeated by despair.  We can look to the parts of this mess that indicate that someone is baking up some good and do what we can to support those parts of the world.  It will... it does make a difference.

Praying Bugs Are Cool

by Sheri

I went out to my garden....Scratch that.  I went out to the sad, desolate patch of earth which I used to call my garden and found this marvel of nature hanging around.  I ran and got my camera and comenced playing hide and seek with a bug.  The poor critter must be camera shy because as I edged myself into position to take a fabulous picture, (fighting the wind that was trying to blow me, the bug, and the sunflower it was on to the next county), the little stinker would scoot himself to the opposite side of the stem.  "Nothin' to see here ma'am.  Just move along."  I kept trying and the bug kept scooting.  I suppose I was interrupting the poor little creatures fight for survival.  Probably not much for him to eat with the drought and all.  

"Lady, you are persistent!  And to think they call my kind pests!

Eventually, I left the poor thing alone.  But, I do think they are amazing creatures. The sheer size of Praying Mantis, as compared to the rest of the bug world, makes them unusual.  And then there is the slow, deliberate way they move, the endless patience waiting for dinner to come their way.  Even their light green color is beautiful to me.

  

I like slow creatures.  One of my favorite animals is the turtle.  They, too, seem to move about with a slow, deliberate peacefulness which somehow cries out to my soul.  There is a longing within me to just be.  No rushing, no fretting, just be in the moment.  Yet, I very rarely can do it.  I get fidgety.  My very body seems to reject peacefulness as I immediately get a headache if I am sedentary too long. I totally sympathize with students at school who find it difficult to sit still.  I was way too busy being good when I was a student to fidget much, but I do sympathize.  (There is a rebel in me, however.  All while writing this I have been hearing a teacher's voice prompting, "Isn't there a better word you could use besides 'bug'?" So, every time I start to write "insect" I stubbornly think "NO, it's a bug!)  

Anywho, let's say we look to the praying mantis and the turtle for inspiration this week.  Whether we are at work, at school, at home or at church, take some time to sit and look around and really soak up the wonder of the moment.  

Maybe if we learn to sit still, our children will too!