AND THE WORLD TURNS

 

It is shaping up to be a beautiful day, weather-wise, It was in the low 20s F when I got up and it is now 53. The shearer is coming this afternoon. I wasn't happy about that, when I learned it last night. I was outside when he called and I didn't talk to him. I would have tried to postpone it.

Of course, there is a backstory. We have expressions in our culture like: go with the flow; take life as it comes; ride the waves; trust god; live in the moment; etc. They imply that one should not worry or be apprehensive and just deal with life as it comes. We all agree with that, don't we? Most of us have accepted, that worry is pointless and often destructive.

We have had a series of advents happen in the last couple months that would try the patience of the buddha. Cars breaking down. Deliveries not happening [bedding for the barn]. Illness. Every day there was something that caused one to have difficulty 'going with the flow'. But I was learning to give my concerns to a loving universe and not worry. I was making progress. When my son called and said he was having the same trouble with the car, that he had, before it went to the garage for the $600 plus repair, I was able to keep cool. I didn't worry. I knew everything would be okay. I was getting use to saying that to myself. When I saw him come up the driveway; I thought, now I can relax for the evening. About 7PM I got the message that the shearer called. I didn't go with the flow. I didn't put my trust in the universe. I was irritated. I would have to lock those sheep in the barn and I knew they would be sleeping out.

I went out, about three times last night, they were not in the barn. I knew they liked to go in the barn in the early Morning, for an hour or two, so I got up at 6AM hoping to take advantage of that habit. I kept going out and observing that they were not going in the barn. Many people have their sheep trained to respond to a bucket of corn or some feed. They just rattle it around in the bucket and the sheep will follow them around anywhere. I never feed my sheep grain and they don't have the bucket experience. I have tried it before with poor success. However, I wasn't getting anywhere by waiting for them to cooperate, so I put some corn in a bucket and went out to the pasture, I rattled around the corn, the ears picked up on one of the ewes, and she came toward me. I went in the barn; she followed and led in all the others.{I purchased her last year, she apparently had the bucket experience}. It didn't go completely smoothly, a couple of the old ones sensed something must be up and they charged out the door before I could close it. But, when I moved away out of their sight, they went into the barn, they couldn't resist the munching of their flock mates.

So all was well after all. There wasn't anything for me to get upset about.

Life comes to us day by day and we go through periods of near bliss; then we go through other periods, that seem to be a trial. Sometimes the troubles don't seem to end, but then, we realize, one day that the siege is over. We might not even know when it stopped, we are just aware that everything is all right.

Do you suppose, we could have enough faith that things were going to turn out all right, that we could avoid the worry? No more fretting. No more anxiety.

I know I could live my whole life without having any tizzy fits. I know I can be peaceful through almost anything. Yet, sometimes we let ourselves down and don't rise, to the place, we know we could be. That is okay. We need to forgive ourselves and all the participants.

There is a promise, we can and will, live in peace and love, and will be so absorbed in each moment of our existence, that worry or anxiety will not be possible. We do know it. We have those experiences now. Can we string them together?

It is our right, as loving beings of a loving universe, to live in perpetual peace. We shall, if we will it.

We are going through some difficult times. There is a huge amount of negative energy being promulgated by the media. It tends to magnify, what ever personal struggles we have. We can make the choice not to pay attention to it.

There is much more love being expressed in the world than there is darkness. Look for it, focus on it. We grow what we pay attention to. Love and peace come together and therefore is joy!

Have a great Friday. Don't forget to celebrate!

The sheep shearer should be arriving any minute.

Love and Peace, Gregg