There was once a woman hiking in the wilderness and she came across a pack of wolves. Knowing that she was in great danger, she immediately ran away. As she was running, no matter how fast she ran, the wolves seem to catch up with her and were almost upon her when she came to a cliff. She had no other place to go. She saw a vine hanging over the cliff; she grabbed the vine and launched herself over the cliff, hanging onto the vine just as the wolves arrived at the edge of the cliff.
When she looked down at the bottom of the canyon, there was a pack of coyotes waiting for her down below. With the wolves on top and the coyotes below, she noticed two mice were eating away at her vine. In the midst of all this, out of the corner of her eye, she sees two wild strawberries growing on the edge of the vine. She pauses for a moment, picks the strawberries and eats them. If only just for a moment, she enjoys the delicious strawberries in her mouth. A moment of bliss in the midst of chaos! (from Brendan McGuire's "Strawberries in the Midst of Chaos")
McGuire goes on to say there are times in our lives when we have the wolves of our office or school and the coyotes at home (all) waiting to be fed and devour us. We wonder if we can hold on at all with the wolves above and the coyotes below, and the mice eating away at the vine of our lives.
What we need to find is a place of rest amidst the chaos. Only then can we discover the strawberries in our lives. Jesus must have anticipated these trials in our lives when he said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
It is necessary to rest a while in the midst of the chaos of our lives so we can discover the strawberries. Just this morning as I read through my morning prayers I noticed the sun breaking through the clouds in the east. I was close to missing it entirely, but its brightness came and went as clouds passed. I said a quick thank you to God for the reminder.
The beauty of God's signs like sunrise and sunset point to reality, to truth. "Truth is beauty and beauty is truth. That's all you know on earth and all you need to know" John Keats said.
Here, on this earth, we live in joy and hope. Joy is our song, our grace and blessing. Hope is our strength and purpose. With joy and hope we sustain family and love.
I fear I have said enough in this reflection.
