Sipping coffee. In a cafe on the side of the road, in the sunshine, just watching humanity.
And then, the strangest things…
A guy rides his bike with his helmet on, as per the law. But the helmet is designed to be aerodynamically effective…to make him go faster than he thought he could. Sensible. Except that he has these strands of plastic growing out of the top of the helmet now. Long, white plastic bits that blow in the breeze as he waits, still, for the green traffic light with bated breath. Readied to continue the race against himself and achieve personal best. Readied to cross the line and to outdo himself yet again.
Seeds planted and sprouted? Perhaps an experiment being conducted in order to make him go even faster? Maybe just a whim…I don’t know! But practical?
Not to the magpie, of course…Because it’s actually an invention meant to deter the swooping mother bird as it dangerously selects the target. Not put off even by badly fitting lycra, the bird will peck and peck and draw blood at the sniff of a danger to its babies.
Hence…the strange looking bits of plastic deterrent now attached to the helmet in front of me. Defence, I believe.
Strange. What we do to deter danger. What we do when fear gets the better of us.
Even stranger, evidence of the gripping fear of anticipated danger.
The worrying thought patterns that dart and weave and infect our conscious minds, no matter what we may tell ourselves in intelligent mind-speak. No. Over-ridden now by the fantasy of imagined disaster stalking us and overcoming our sensibilities until we act totally out of character, irrationally out of social …. acceptability.
This man was once a perfectly normal cyclist who thought and acted within the realms of average-ness (if you can call some of the bike outfits such) until the fear of the attack of the birds wore him down. Now he demonstrates his emotional challenge to all who pass in four wheeled, enclosed vehicle and point and laugh behind cupped hand.
Hmm….I wonder if he realises?
I wonder if he knows?
And then, my thoughts wander to myself. Typical. I wonder if God laughs when I’m gripped by a fear that may be caused by a natural occurrence? To me it may be big, but in HIS bigness He sees beyond and knows the outcomes and the thwarting power of His Word into my fear. And yet I continue to entertain it. I continue to breathe out the confessions of being afraid, of fearing the natural occurrences of my life. Instead of seeing in every fearsome circumstance the hand of the Eternal One who reaches out to touch and guide. Though I know He knows, I take the burden of the unknown upon me. Making provision for the attack, guarding with a defence that, while poignant, is often in the best possible light…pathetic.
The IMAGINED fear…that fear that becomes almost a spirit that lurks, ready…
I believe PLATO once said:
“Courage is knowing what not to fear”…
Yes, I Put on my little bits of plastic to protect and hide from the onslaught. Hedging my bets with the natural, I refuse to hear the Voice and the Prompting…and fail the test again.
Ahhh. Should have known.
He was there all the time. Wasted fear. Wasted time and effort.
Trust – It’s all I need.
2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”
Valery
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