Soul-scape

I know...its a squirrel.
Wait, don't leave yet to go watch a YouTube video...stay with me for just a moment, because there is a story and a point about the ways our souls are shaped.

I am wandering around a garden in my community with my camera.  This is fast becoming one of my most meaningful prayer practices and the way traces of God's grace surface in my life.  I am off in a secluded, off the paved path, place.  As I am standing in the shade, soaking in the breeze blowing in ways that are refreshing and renewing, I close my eyes and I can hear something rustling.  At first, I think it is just the wind.  But, then, no.  Something seems to be moving amid the shadows, just out of my field of vision.  Slowly and as silently as I can, I start to make my way around the tree.  Then I spotted Mrs. (or Mr...not sure how you tell the difference) Squirrel munching on a nut, having a mid-morning snack, up in the trees, glancing down at me as if to say, "How ya doing?  Care for a nut?  I've got a few spare up here."  Okay, I am not sure that is exactly what the glance of the squirrel was meant to communicate, so please feel free to interpret the stare/glare in your own way.

When I first started practicing prayerful photography, I thought it was all about sight.  As a matter of fact, the first time my wife would point out various sights (like a butterfly) I was missing.that kept fluttering around us.  So, I started putting my energy into scanning the landscape around me, thoughtfully gazing, not just glancing, at the world I was encountering and experiencing.  But more and more, I think hearing is just as important as seeing.  What we hear feeds us and fuels our lives.  Think about how much of what we hear today has the nutritional value of a bowl of surgery cereal.  What we are auditorily receiving and perceiving from the world is often bickering and bitterness, rather than moments of grace and love.  To be sure, pain needs to be process.  To be sure, injustice needs to be named, claimed, and dealt with.  To be sure, there needs to be a place for anger at corruption and cruelty.  Yet, sometimes shouting just adds to the cacophony.  Sometimes yelling just perpetuates more yelling in a vicious cycle.  Non-violence is not only about physically refraining from hurting and harming others, there is a non-violent posture toward ourselves and others relationally that is vital too.

What have you heard today?
Where has there been a trace of grace?
Where do you long to practice a balance of hearing sounds that shape your souls?

At first, I thought it was just a squirrel chomping on a nut.  Turns out, there was more than a trace of God's grace and love in this one moment.

Blessings ~~