A while ago, as I was entering my favorite restaurant on Cortes Island called Trude’s, I noticed a group of people carrying groceries into the restaurant. I quickly pulled my vehicle up to the fence where the food was being unloaded and offered assistance. As we were unloading large boxes of lettuce and other produce, I noticed that someone had stopped to visit with a friend, and rested one of the cardboard boxes on the hood of my almost new Forerunner. I strode out rather purposefully, and a bit indignantly took the box from the hood of my truck, being careful not to drag it, because sand from the produce could scratch the hood. Well, my attitude was noticed! One of my wonderfully supportive friends thought that I had become rather materialistic, and did not embrace the true joys of living in such a wild and wonderful, earthy place. He admonished that true joy is in our thoughts and deeds, not our possessions. He even offered that I cared more about the truck than the hearts that surrounded me. I thought about it for a few seconds. I didn’t want to bore everyone with my thoughts on Oneness, and how my truck was every bit a living thing as their hearts, yet I did have a need to express the uncomfortable feeling I experienced through this dialogue. I searched for a few more seconds, a power centering if you will, and then as I found the source of my feelings, I offered this explanation of my discontent. I said: ‘Being aware that all is sacred on this earth, and that I am only the custodian of such material assets, as the dirt that I am standing on, the plants, flowers, trees, and animals, the house that I live in , and yes, even my relatively new Forerunner… If all is God, shouldn’t I take good care and honor the gifts that I am blessed to share? Shouldn’t I care enough about what I have, and treat it with a sacred reverence – things like my car, my friends, the food that I eat, the planet that I live on? Well, I thought so anyway. After a short silence, they actually agreed as well.
I do like to take care of those things that pass through my life. It sometimes bites me in the rear end when I don’t.!!!
Greg
