Today is a bright sunny day with a brisk wind; we start off toward church a bit early to make sure the heat is going to take the chill off the sanctuary. I suppose it was nice to have a ‘fall back’ day in Daylight Savings time but actually Dave and I were both up at the usual time, which did allow a bit more leisure before setting out . Arriving at the church I opened my door (okay if I am patient Dave opens my door but sometimes I’m in a hurry) and what did I see but a squirrel standing before the church door. It’s not unusual to see squirrels in the church neighborhood but I don’t think I ever had one waiting at the door for us. Instantly my quirky side kicked in and I started singing, ‘the day the squirrel went to church…’ As Dave came around from behind the car the squirrel started dancing around and took off. Ever notice that sometimes Pastors have that effect on people? I’ve noticed that when people feel good about themselves and their actions they welcome a Pastor with open arms; however, any slight niggling feeling of guilt and they will go to contorted measures to avoid this otherwise welcome person. So what possible issues could this particular squirrel have with my gentle shepherd hubby? Perhaps he had been out filching other’s stores of acorns? He could have been playing hooky from his own Sabbath duties to come check out our place. Maybe he is a heathen squirrel who had hoped to slip into the church make a quick dash to the altar without all the complications of interaction with others, or backslidden and not wanting to face his peers and admit he was having second thoughts about the Second Coming? Okay I must make another confession, for me a squirrel is a pesky rodent with a bushy tail that often empties my birdfeeders without my permission and mostly I don’t think they are cute. I don’t want to see them harmed and often yell at them to ‘get moving’ when they are darting across the road because I’m not heartless but I do have less heart toward them than say chip monks. What’s the difference in a chip monk and squirrel? Chubby cheeks for one thing, I admit I have a smile reaction for chubby cheeked creatures. This is quite a revealing revelation about my heart’s condition.
When something/one personally irritates me it can prejudice me against an entire grouping of people or things.(Had this particular squirrel ever filched my seed? No cause I haven’t set a feeder out at the church) When something is appealing to me it can redeem a whole lot of other issues I might have had with others in that group. Personal taste seems to come into play a lot in our attitudes and our attitudes set our mindsets, mindsets drive our actions and reactions which form our personality. Our personality affects our souls, which impact our spirit and all this has eternal implications. You might think a small prejudice is just a quirk of your personality, a slight blip on an otherwise good screen of emotional and spiritual health but I’m here to remind you that that blip is an algorithm that you can’t allow to continue or it will lead you down a path of false answers. (Algorithm: computer lingo for sequences of finite instructions, these instructions are used as a way to complete a task and finally arriving at an end state. A few algorithms can be open ended but I’m trying not to technical you to death here.) Hence squirrels which once ticked me off, started a pattern of me continually being ticked at them, even if they don’t steal my bird seed and even apparently if they show up at church. A squirrelly attitude might not be damaging to my eternal state but it is merely a simple look at much more complicated heart issue that can cause me to form false assumptions about my fellow Terra travelers be they small creatures or the larger talking ones.
It is imperative for this girl as she steps out into the world or through the door of the church, to allow Ruach to rewrite any destructive algorithm that I’ve allowed to run which will push me toward a final conclusion about things that I am not exactly thrilled about less I come short of the outcome that He intends for me to attain. Wouldn’t it just be a gut shocker to stand before the Father and have Him say, ‘you did a good job, you accomplished ….however if you had not allowed that offense, that prejudice, that false algorithm in your life I could have used you to reach the people of Somalia for the kingdom.’
As I sit still I can sense a change in the rhythm of my heart, I hear the faint sounding beat that has been echoing from the dawn of time, the only rhythm that can bring all creation into harmony; His heartbeat calling out to mine,’ get in step, we’re getting ready to fling open the doors to whosoever will.’
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