“Listen, stay alert, stand tall in the faith, be courageous, and be strong.” - 1 Corinthians 16:1
I had a giant pine tree by my shack that was struck by lightning. The tree was estimated by the forest service to be 125 feet in height. I had to call a man I knew that owns a tree service because the tree was now a hazard; it was turning brown, dying and needed to be cut down. This man is in his mid 50's, white haired, muscular and wiry, his skin tanned and etched with work in the outdoors. He focused on the tree with an intensity and a "can do" determination. He stood tall. He put on his climbing spurs and latched a small chainsaw to his belt with a rope. Climbing like a cat, he slowly reached the top. I could see him look at the sky, then saw a smile, then laughter on his face. I thought to myself, "this man is an Eagle!"
“I think laughter may be a form of courage. As humans, we sometimes stand tall and look into the sun and laugh, and I think we are never more brave than when we do that.”- Linda Ellerbee
He tied the long rope he had with him to the top branches, started his saw and surgically began to slice each one, while carefully dropping them to the ground with the rope attached. His son systematically pulled them off and moved them away. All-day long he labored; sometimes he would pause on a large branch and rest. One hundred and twenty-five feet, then a hundred feet, then 50 feet, then 20, then 10, then 5! until the tree had been completely taken down. Once he was done I asked him "How many times do you this?" He answered, confidently "As many times as I am called." This man looked 10 feet tall to me and I know he felt like it too. This was his Day in the Sun.
“Waiting for no one, only the waiting For our day in the sun
Live to the rhythm, the rhythm of living
For our day in the sun- Peter Frampton”
I tell this story because I feel it illustrates how I believe we need to face this crisis that is confronting us. Let us stand tall, let us be confident, knowing that we can, branch by branch, cut this crisis down. I know that if we stand tall and face this crisis with courage and a positive confident determination, we will have our Day in the Sun!
I want to add a story that was meant for early March, before the Corona Virus crisis began to explode. I add this next story in the hope that as we take our "pause" at home, we can also relax, while we continue to Stand Tall. I call it "The Little Shack Plays":
Sometimes as we get older, after the divorces, the funerals, health problems, accumulated disappointments, we may begin to feel dead inside. Questions come up: Can we get out of bed?What's the point? Can we shake it off? This feeling happens to me from time to time. What do we do to start feeling alive again?
Let's get back in the ring, see what we got!
I have a relative that visited recently. She had just gone through a lot of life changes--let's just say all the above and also retired from her job of 40 years--yes, big changes! What amazed me about her was that she decided to buy a twenty-eight foot RV Motor home and tour the USA by herself. Now, this woman in her late 60's, has never even driven a pickup truck! I was inspired by her optimism and courage. One of the activities that stood out during her visit was her enthusiasm for card games.
“We don't stop playing because we turn old, but turn old because we stop playing." -Unknown
People that know me, understand I am not a game player. I was not interested in playing, but to humor her I made the "great sacrifice!" She began to teach my wife and I how to play the game. I really started to enjoy myself and we played for hours. I lost my "heaviness", dropping that "dead" feeling; I began to have fun! The next day it was my suggestion to break out the monopoly board!
“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.” - Charles Schaefer
What I relearned from this positive driven woman was that sometimes the simplest antidote for the "age malaise" is to remember when you were a child and played those cards or board games with your sisters, brothers, cousins or friends. And you had fun! Other positive reasons to play these games are that we receive a mental workout and we are blessed with a cheerful heart-connection to the other.
On the eve of my relative's departure to parts unknown, I made a toast to the "Card-playing Road Warrior" and a promise to start having some simple fun.
From the Little Shack: Thank You, Road Warrior!
Stand Tall!
“When you feel like you’ve got nothing, remember that we’ve got each other, so just stand tall and keep pushing on, and we can make it to the other shore, I promise.”- Jake Miller
