Ozark Oddments: Hide in Plain Sight

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Hide in Plain Sight

When they made our driveway, they basically cut through a swell in the ground, so there “mountain” on one side, and “valley” on the other. The “valley” side is lined with lots of brush, but just as one reaches the frontage road, there is a break in the brush that offers a clear view into the thicket. At this one spot lie the remains of an old tree, and one of its branches sort of arcs up into the air. A chipmunk frequently sits on this branch, and so when we pass that spot as we stroll down the driveway on our daily walk, we always look down there to see if the chipmunk is sitting on the rotting branch. Only in recent weeks in addition to occasionally seeing the chipmunk, this rabbit has been hunkered down amongst the dead leaves and bark. We have seen it quite a few times, always in the same spot. The first time R saw it he said it looked like it was sitting on a nest. Which of course prompted a comment about “the Easter bunny” sitting on eggs. Finally I made him take the camera one day to get a picture of it. From this picture, the rabbit doesn’t look too well hidden – I mean it’s clear as a bell that it’s sitting there (and yes, the green plant to the left that is starting to turn color for fall is our old friend poison ivy). Actually though, the rabbit blends in very well with the surroundings, and if you aren’t paying attention, your eye tends to slide right by it without seeing it. In fact, R had some trouble finding the rabbit in the viewfinder, and of the 5 shots he took of it before it finally had enough and bolted, only one of the pictures actually has the entire rabbit in it. I think ability of this rabbit to “hide in plain sight” has some interesting implications for those of us who profess to be Christians. How well do we blend into our surroundings? How visible are we, anyway? The rabbit is well camouflaged as a defense against predators. Are we hiding? If so, who from.... and, more important, why?

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Thoughts to ponder

Most of us go through life so absorbed in the cocoon of ourselves that we rarely stop to consider the other. Of course, we think that we do; indeed, we may pride ourselves on our capacity for empathy; we may be considerate and thoughtful in our dealings with others, but how often do we stand before them. so to speak, and experience what it is to be them?--Domenica Macdonald

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, by Alexander McCall
Smith

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Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering -- because you can't take it in all at once. --Audrey Hepburn

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I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.--Agatha Christie

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Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.--Katharine Hepburn

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One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship

"Two people... told me that the word "Christian" would turn people off. I wouldn't mind if to be a Christian were accepted as being the dangerous thing which it is. I wouldn't mind if, when a group of Christians meet for bread and wine, we might well be interrupted and jailed for subversive activities. I wouldn't mind if, once again, we were being thrown to the lions. I do mind, desperately, that the word "Christian" means for so many people smugness, and piosity, and holier-than-thoughness. Who, today, can recognize a Christian because of "how those Christians love one another"?--Madeline L'Engle, "A Circle of Quiet"