Nativity Catholic Church
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A Frog in the Wind Chimes A wonderful set of aluminum wind chimes has hung in the garden beyond my bedroom window for several years now. When the wind gets to rustling through the trees and sparks the gentle tintinnabulation of the slender fingers of the chimes, the sound is ever so soothing. When sitting out on the lanai and reading a book or the newspaper, I am lured by the sound of the chimes and usually pause with my reading in order to close my eyes and open my ears for that mystical sound—almost as if the Sirens of Greek mythology where now perched near the grapefruit tree and calling out to me. Problem has been, up until now, that my chimes have been set just a bit too far away from my bedroom window for me to really hear them from inside the house. A couple of weeks ago, I chose closeness to my bedroom window over the aesthetics of the chimes nestled in the colorful garden, so that I could enjoy the alluringly graceful sound even more. In the process of moving the chimes and the metal crook they have been dangling from, I decided to do a quick clean up job on the aluminum. A couple of years of neglect saw them covered with a green film, so grabbing the “orange crush” cleaning spray, I went to work. Much to my surprise, as I grabbed one of the chime tubes, I discovered an unexpected resident claiming squatter’s rights inside the tube! A frog had apparently been making his home there for some time, and was able to somehow match his body color to the aluminum shade, hoping I suppose to avoid detection. With great curiosity, I simply stared at the little creature-in-the-chimes for quite a while, and I marveled at the ways in which nature cares for itself, and the ways in which every living creature somehow searches out and finds for itself a safe place—at least somewhere that appears to be safe. In my younger days, I may have been moved to disturb this tiny creature’s comfortable habitat, and either box it up for a school show-and-tell, or turn it into a science project. With age comes wisdom (at least a certain amount), and this time around, I left the frog alone and went about relocating the chimes. Now their gentle serenade is more frequently audible, and sometimes even does me the service of helping me fall asleep at night after a strenuous day. After this somewhat lengthy introduction, it’s really the frog I am moved to reflect upon, and not the chimes. And my insight is this, how often is it that we come across surprises in life through the experience of things that, on first sight, don’t really belong where we first find them? I had not expected to find a frog living inside my wind chimes—and because of this surprise, I was momentarily distracted and, in a sense, awakened by this out-of-place encounter. Sometimes in life, things “show up” where we do not expect to find them; sometimes in life, things are living where we think they don’t belong; sometimes in life, out-of-place encounters have a way of jarring us out of our complacency and awakening us to deeper experiences of living. At times, these out-of-place, these frog-in-the-wind-chimes encounters are simple and sweet: a crocus breaking through a snow bank, a turtle crossing our back yard, a miniature poodle dressed up as Santa Claus at Christmas time, an elderly woman tap dancing while supported by a walker, a blind man creating masterful paintings of rich color. At other times, these frog-in-the-wind-chimes encounters are unnerving and set us back on our heels: a tumor in the brain of a vibrant nine-year old, a pink slip in one’s mailbox at work, homeless woman sleeping in the church entrance, a convicted pedophile living down the street, a burglary in our “gated and alarmed” neighborhood, a teenage pregnancy, a new set of expectations to a process we’ve been through several times already, an emotional reaction that leaps out from some unknown place within us at what seems to be the “wrong time.” When we come across our frogs-in-the-chimes, depending upon the soul-condition we happen to be in, we may either stare in awe at the wonder and mystery set before us, or we may recoil at what we perceive doesn’t belong and attack it. There are times when we can allow ourselves to see with new eyes and touch with supple hands the unexpected, and there are times when we are absolutely determined to reject that which we deem does not belong in the here and now moments of our lives. The question is: can we be more embracing of these “aha” moments, of these frog-in-the-chimes encounters, or will we be doomed to only embrace the “expected” pieces of life, the everything-in-its-proper-place way of living? Every day, the Spirit of Jesus, the Advocate, the Paraclete, blows through God’s sacred and beloved creation, lifting up and placing all manner of things and people in places that don’t seem to fit or belong where we find them. Every day, the Holy Spirit of God is surprising us, both with heart-leaping joy and heart-rending sorrow, with frogs-in-the-wind-chimes. It may be easy to mouth the words of the simple, ancient prayer of the Church: “Come, Holy Spirit”! But it is much more challenging to embrace the reality of this Spirit of God who blows where the Spirit will, in ways of the Spirit’s (and not our) choosing—who even sees fit on occasion to place frogs in the wind chimes.
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