dealing with small annoyances

 

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

One day recently, while driving to work,

this other car cut in front of me,

and, driving slowly,

caused me to catch a light.

 

I was a little annoyed,

until I had a chance to see the plate,

and to get a look at the guy

as I pulled alongside in the other lane.

 

His license plate read “Disabled Veteran,”

and he looked like he could have been

in the Big One, WWII.

 

Now, instead of being slightly annoyed,

I’m thinking about Hitler,

the evils of Nazism,

and the heroic efforts of those

who stormed the beaches on D-Day

to begin the end

to Hitler’s mad plan.

 

I’m thinking,

if this disabled veteran had a hand in that,

I should be saluting him,

giving him a medal

(who knows? He may already have one).

 

Hence, this Memorial Day,

I decided to say a prayer and thank that man,

along with the other nearly 1.5 million

men and women who died so that I might

have the freedom to sit here

and type these words,

as well as those living,

who are working to ensure our freedoms

on a daily basis...God bless you all!

 

And the next time someone cuts me off,

or takes my place in line,

or does any of a myriad of things

to cause a small annoyance,

I’ll try to cut them some slack,

thinking,

“God, perhaps this distracted person

did something really cool once,

something known to them and You alone.

For the sake of that,

please help me to think kindly of them.”

 

Wishing a blessed Memorial Day to all!

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

little heroes abounding

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

I got some feedback on the baby ducks,

like what a sad write up it was,

which is not what I intended at all.

 

I should have said that the Mother duck

reminded me very much of the Scree,

as in, given the same abilities,

I’m sure she’d have done the same.

 

Hmm, the Scree, it’s been some ten years

since I’ve seen that little spud.

 

Yet I think I mentioned him a few years ago,

when I spoke about “little heroes.”

 

The more I think about it,

I believe we are surrounded by little heroes,

those who are quietly making sacrifices

for others’ sakes

with no thought for themselves,

no intention of fanfare or making the news.

 

*rummages around*

 

Yes, here it is, still relevant today:

 

 

(originally posted 10 July 2010)

 

Subject: little heroes

 

 

well my dear ones,

 

 

When I was younger,

perhaps due to reading too many comics,

I thought a "hero" was some huge guy,

perhaps a big Nordic guy like Thor,

with a big hammer,

or some Conan-type guy with a huge sword,

someone that used brute force

against the forces of darkness and evil.

 

But lately, I've been thinking that

there are likely many quiet unassuming people

walking about in the world

who are little heroes,

using heart to fight evil

in ways less obvious...

 

And that reminded me of that little creature,

the Scree,

about whom my old friend and mentor, Titania,

taught me some few years back...

 

 

[Shakespearian aside: those come lately

to this journal should know that

dave’s mentor and muse,

Titania, the Faerie Queen,

has been around since the dawn of Creation;

created just after the angels,

she has the most recently-assigned task

of educating dave.

As he is so slow and dull-witted,

she sees this as somewhat of a burden.

However, she has help from others,

among them, White Tiger,

the physical embodiment of human courage]

 

 

(originally posted 10 OCT 2005)

 

Subject: the Scree

 

*Titania & dave sit on a fallen tree

in the remnants of the half-acre-wood*

 

dave: "You guys left me in that bougainvillea

 for an awfully long time..."

 

Titania: *rustling her wings*

 "Trust me, it was necessary;

 you will be the better for it,

 although you still have much to learn...”

 

*she listens to a voice no human ear can hear*

 

“Hark!

 Here’s a lesson for you to see...”

 

*waves her hand over a patch of ground*

*sandy soil melts, shimmers,

 and becomes as glass

 ...the Mirror of Titania*

 

*an image forms of another patch of woods,

but the sky is somehow ‘wrong’;

for one thing, there are two suns...*

 

dave: “Where is this place?”

 

Titania: *with a dismissive gesture*

“It’s just a small planet

 that lies beyond the limits

 of your present knowledge

 of the universe.

 

“It is home to many creatures,

      among them, the Scree.”

 

dave: “Scree?”

 

Titania: *pointing*

“That small creature there.”

 

*points to a thing that looks

 very like unto a pudgy hamster

 standing about a hand tall,

 with twitching whiskers

 and eyes indicative of intelligence*

 

dave: “hey, I see fire blazing

in the woods beyond”

 

Titania: “Yes, wildfire.”

*shakes her head sadly*

 That section of woods will burn to ash

 in a few moments."

 

dave: "Why doesn't that little spud leave?"

 

Titania: "He would like to,

 but the Scree are empaths.

 Behold."

 

 *the Scree comes upon a nest among some rocks

 with three tiny featherless baby birds in it*

 

 "Those chicks are offspring of a Windsong bird;

 the mother bird will not make it back

 before the fire reaches the nest."

 

 *the birds cry out loudly

 for their mother to come save them*

 

 *in answer, the Scree tries to

 carry them to safety,

 but it is too small to lift even one*

 

 *the Scree touches one of the baby birds

 and whispers something that sounds

 musical notes*

 

dave: "What did it say?"

 

Titania: "He told them to sleep,

 for they will be safe,

 and Mother will return soon."

 

*the Scree whispers the same hopeful message

 to all three,

 and in a moment, they are asleep*

 

*the Scree painfully stretches its little body

 across the rocks around the nest

 and covers the chicks

 just as the fire rages through the area

 and burns all the woods to cinders and ash.*

 

 *In great pain and agony, the Scree dies*

 

dave: "Just as it died,

 I thought I saw power

 go out from that small creature."

 

Titania: *approvingly*

      "You see well;

 it poured its life force

 into those chicks

 that the heat of the fire

 might cause them no harm;

 it spent the coin of its life

 to save those small birds.

 

 "All that it ever was or would be

 it laid aside for the sake of others.

 And already, in Deep Heaven,

 the Scree is welcomed with great honor.

 

 "Now tell me,

 what do you think it means to be a hero?

 To be strong? To be brave?

 

dave: "That would be a good start..."

 

Titania: "To me,

 a hero is someone who risks all

 for the sake of those they love.

 And a great hero

 is one with enough love in their heart

 that they would lay down their life

 for the least of their fellow creatures.

 

 "Truly, I tell you,

 the heart of the Maker is warmed

 by the heroic deeds of this small creature.

 

 "And the love God bears for it

 is beyond calculation.

 

 "As that is for the Scree

 so it is for each one of you.

 

*Titania listens*

*dave hears thunder, and a rustling of leaves,

 and maybe the voices of the dead things

 that live on the far side of forever,

 ...or perhaps the voice of God,

 but dave sees and hears poorly,

 as through a glass darkly*

 

Titania: "Errands." *shrugs*

 "Think upon the Scree;

 would that you might do as he

 were it ever required of you."

 *vanishes*

 

dave: *to all*

 "Hmm, I guess I tend to judge greatness

 based on the bigness of external things,

 but God judges greatness

 by the hugeness of our hearts.

 I'll have to think on that one for a bit.

But for sure that Scree was a cute little spud;

 I was sorry to see him suffer so,

 but I'm glad it all worked out for him." =>

 

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

 

dave

 

 

"The greatest love you can show

 is to give your life for your friends."

 

      --- Jesus, gospel of John 15:13

 

baby ducks

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

A few days ago, I was driving home

when I saw something in the middle of the road;

it looked like a big lump

with a bunch of tiny things jumping on it.

 

As I got closer, I saw that it was a mother duck

and her five baby ducklings.

 

Momma had been hit by a car;

she was on the yellow lines between lanes,

and she was trying to shoo her babies to safety,

but they were too scared to leave her.

 

I pulled over to try and help her,

which meant I blocked half the road,

since it’s a two lane road

with high curbs on both sides.

 

I picked up Momma in my sweatshirt

and brought her to the grass on the roadside;

the babies followed,

but then too off into the woods.

 

I was holding the Momma duck,

and stroking her head,

speaking softly to her.

She got agitated whenever her babies called out;

I could see she was frustrated;

she knew she was dying,

yet her concern was for her babies;

she knew I was trying to help her,

but she kept motioning toward her little ones;

it was clear she was trying to communicate to me,

“Help my babies!”

 

I prayed, “God help me!

I don’t know what to do!”

 

Within a minute,

two women showed up to help.

 

The Momma duck died,

but not alone;

I was holding her,

praying for a place for her in Deep Heaven.

And I promised to help her babies.

 

I buried Momma,

and then we focused on catching the babies.

 

 

One woman used her shawl to net two of them;

she said she already had some ducks at home

and would take those two home as well,

so she left with them.

 

I used my sweatshirt to net another duckling;

however, the last two crawled under a fence

and got away.

 

The second woman called DNR

(basically, wildlife services);

she said she worked with animal rescue

and would get help for the little spuds.

 

We left her daughter holding the duckling

while her Mom and I looked for the other two.

 

We could hear them, but they were in hedges

in a private neighborhood.

 

Back near our two cars,

a S.W.A.T. guy pulled up and started talking

with the girl holding the duckling.

 

Turns out, on weekends, the S.W.A.T. guy

is also the DNR guy.

He was a cool dude;

even though the ducks were Mallards,

and technically, could not be kept as pets,

he was good with the fact that

one woman had taken two;

he just asked if I trusted

that she was on-the-level

when she said she’d raise them.

I vouched that, yes, she was cool,

and seemed like she honestly

just wanted to help.

 

I petted the little duckling goodbye

before he put it in a box

(still in my shirt for warmth,

 and because it still had

 scent from Momma

 to help keep the little spud calm).

 

Then the S.W.A.T. guy thanked us

for helping, and said

he had it all under control,

and that he would go into

that private neighborhood

and get the other two babies

(using the cries of the one in the box

  to help draw them out).

 

*shrugs*

 

The dude was like 6’6” and 260 lbs,

like a Marine Corps recruiting poster!

I couldn’t foresee him having anyone

prevent him from getting those ducklings;

I’m sure he got them all to a safe place. =D

 

[I didn’t have my camera with me;

 but all 5 of them were about 4” tall,

 and pretty much looked just like this:

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2015/05/baby-duckling.html

 

i.e. Too cute for their own fuzz!]

 

 

I said goodbye to Mom (Christie)

and her daughter (Ashley)

then headed home to tell my wife.

 

The last thing I said to the little

duckling was,

“I’m sorry, Babykins;

 I don’t know why God allowed

 your Momma to die,

 and why you’ll have to

 grow up without a mother;

 but at least you’re safe now,

 like I promised her.”

 

Thank you, Christie, Ashley,

and anonymous lady!

You were all an answer to prayer.

 

And you helped me keep my promise

to that Momma duck.

 

 

Have a great week. =)

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

 

baby duckling