The Spirit's Nudge

As I meandered along my morning walk today something bright blue caught my eye. At first I thought I was being joined by another walker and then I realized that it was the plastic covering for a case of bottled water caught in a tree. In my world, there is a lot that is wrong with that last sentence. A plastic covering…case…bottled water…caught in a tree. Of course I retrieved it from the tree, took it home and threw it away since it is not recyclable. I made the assumption, correctly I’m sure, that the wind had carried it there, plunking it in a tree where a human would find it and properly discard it.

My busy brain went to the idea of reciprocity. Had I gotten caught up in the trust of Mother Nature’s reciprocity? A piece of plastic that would surely cause destruction on some level to the birds and animals of the forest, transported there by her winds, to be found by another creature who had the ability to remove it and discard it as best she could? And if it was a reciprocal action, who would ever know? I removed it to carry home because I knew that it was the right thing to do; however it is still plastic and it will still go into the landfill, so where is the continuing reciprocity?

As I left the woods the reciprocity came full circle. I was greeted by a pair of chickadees flitting back and forth across the trail. Their song seemed to say, “Thank you. Thank you.” Their woods were safe, they would not accidently ingest the plastic, it wouldn’t fall along the creek to pollute their water way, all was well with their world. “Thank you, thank you,” sang the chickadees.

Peace,
Pastor Pam

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Pastor Pam Peterson