Columbia Center
for Spiritual Living
Minister's Message
I am a nature lover. A few years ago, I put out a squirrel-proof birdfeeder. Then, to make sure that the squirrels weren't left out in the cold, I placed a squirrel feeder that consisted of a spike upon which I could place a dried corn cob a few feet away from the birdfeeder. Immediately, I was rewarded when the birds swooped in and happily gobbled up the seed which I had placed in the feeder.
This particular feeder has a mechanism that closes the feeder if anything larger than a bird steps upon it. And sure enough, the squirrels in the neighborhood decided to do everything in their power to outwit the mechanism. They reached, they stretched, and they hung upside down from the top of the feeder trying to get at the seed. These antics provided great entertainment as I watched their devotion to the task of getting the food. Meanwhile, just a few feet away, there was a full corn cob just waiting to be devoured! The irony was delicious, and I spent several months trying to show the squirrels that a veritable banquet was waiting for them as they desperately tried to get the seed in vain. I left corn kernel "trails" to the feeder, and even tried to put a corn cob in the tree closer to the birdfeeder. Nothing worked,
and the squirrels were oblivious to the bounty of corn I had left for them.
Finally, after nine long months, I was watching the squirrels yet again trying to get to the seed. All of a sudden,
one of the squirrels turned around, and saw the corn cob patiently waiting for its discovery. The squirrel ran
over to the cob, and began to munch away. Magically, it was as if the squirrel emailed all of his buddies, because in the next fifteen minutes, several other squirrels showed up and vied for a seat on the corn cob feeder. The word was out, and now that "real" squirrel food was available, the birdfeeder seed was no longer such a temptation.
I realized that many times we try to "outwit" life and go through major contortions to get to something we
believe is our good, while a feast of greater good lies easily within our reach if we relax and allow the Universe
to support us. The next time you find yourself struggling, take a look around with your spiritual eyes and don't
be surprised if something even better is waiting patiently for you to discover it.
Blessings,
Rev. Sally