A heat wave has swept across much of the United States. Those of us of a certain age are especially sensitive to the heat. In talking with a friend, I said that I melt when the temperature reaches a certain point. Even as I give thanks for air-conditioning, I am transported back to the days when air-conditioning was non-existent.
We children played outside with abandon, uncaring of the heat and humidity that smothered our eastern Maryland neighborhood. Chasing fireflies, catching June bugs, playing tag, we ran until we exhausted ourselves. Then we ran some more. Those were innocent days in an innocent era. Yet even then, I had a glimmer of the different sides of my friends, myself. We were cruel and thoughtless; we were wise and loving.
More than fifty years later, I find that I am still cruel and thoughtless, wise and loving. Sometimes I manage to squeeze all those within one day. What does that make me? Very, very human.
When I am wise and loving, I find that I am happier, more at peace with the world, with myself. What prompts me to choose wisdom and love one day and to neglect it the next? Could it be that I am listening to the Spirit one day and ignoring it the next? I believe so.
So, for today, I am grateful for promptings of the Spirit.
I'm grateful when the Spirit is strong enough to speak to my heat-baked brain! Even with air conditioning, I feel less than my best.
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