Today, early in the morning, I approached an unfamiliar object on the beach, just above the water line. Its label warned that it was dangerous, phosphorous-filled, and should not be touched. The finder was asked to notify the police or military. The discovery saddened me. In the midst of so much serene beauty, under skies still washed with dawning light, I had stumbled upon something that hinted of death and destruction, something unconnected with the morning’s beauty. I remembered the passage from Philippians where we are told to think of what is pure and lovely. I tried to fix my thoughts on the right, the pure, the admirable, the excellent, and the praiseworthy. As I reported the object to the park ranger, my duty was complete. But now I need your help, Lord to find a way to live in this world with its unpleasant realities and still reach for you and your perfection of goodness and beauty. Help me find beauty even in the midst of ugliness. May I put aside this ugly object and try to be an agent of peace and beauty in a troubled, violent world. Amen.
When I drive over the bridge to the mainland, I am reminded that island life makes it easy to see ourselves as separate, remote from the “mainland of humanity”. Sometimes it’s tempting to make the bridge an ideological divide and not a way of joining land to land. Forgive me my arrogance in thinking I can leave the world’s problems behind me, that I can escape to an island. We are all connected, if not by bridges, then by shared needs and demands. You have insisted that we love one another, no matter how disconnected we may seem. Please, Lord, help me stay connected with others so that I am never disconnected from you. I pray that you direct me not to hide behind bridges, but to maintain and reinforce them with the girders of your love.
There is a controlled burn on the mainland. Acrid smoke hangs heavy in the air; its path covers everything and blurs my vision. We’re told the burn is necessary because it destroys underbrush that catches fire far too easily, quick fuel for blazes than can then be controlled only with great effort and expense. I have “underbrush” in my life as well—negative thoughts I’ve let accumulate. Unless I ‘control burn’ them, they are fuel for fires that destroy my right relationship with God, with others. They lie on the dry forest floor of my mind, fueled by thoughts that are critical, judgmental, hypercritical. Only a spark of anger can set them ablaze so easily, but putting them out is difficult. Please, dear Lord, help me burn away this debris so my relationship with you can be lush, green, and free of destructive negativity. May the air I breathe, may the breezes that blow through my mind, flow freshly through the breath of the Holy Spirit. Amen.