Learning from the Turtle

This weekend one of my grandchildren reached the grand age of two. Immersed in toys and full of cake, he enjoyed every minute of it according to my son. Much to my regret I wasn't there. I was far away at home wondering and worrying about the state of the nation in which my grandchildren will grow up. The frantic Congress and the media hysteria did a good job of "hooking" me into thinking that I had to know, minute by minute, what was happening on the big bailout. And then a funny thing happened when I took a breather to run to the grocery store. A little box turtle was trying to cross the four-lane road as cars whizzed over and around her. Without much thought I pulled over, turned on the hazard lights, darted into the street, picked up the turtle, and took her to the creek from whence she had come. When I got home, I realized I needed to do for myself what I had done for the turtle. Stop obsessing over the frenzied scene in Washington, over which I have no control, get out of the worry mode, and focus on the direction that brings me to living water. Rather than woeful "what ifs", my sense of how my life is connected to deeper, more lasting realities than Wall Street might just be the best gift I can give a two-year-old!