Splat II

What did the bug say after he smashed into the windshield?

“If I had the guts I would do that again!”

There are occasions when a bird will fly into our patio door or into our large bay window. Sometimes the bird will fall to the ground, shake its head and fly off. There are others that are knocked out cold, but eventually they recover enough that they are able to fly away. Unfortunately, some hit the glass so hard that they die immediately, I suppose from a broken neck or major brain trauma. I’m not sure why these birds cannot see what is in front of them and avoid the danger. There is so much free space in which they can safely fly.

I was wondering about this, and it hit me that like these birds I have done the same thing many times. I didn’t run into a window, but I have flown into danger zones and have gone “splat”! I chased after unwise desires, hastily jumped into what seemed to be wonderful materialistic opportunities, and failed to weigh the cost.

The inexperience of youth explains why we have taken a nose dive into shallow waters. We were able to shake our heads, get up and move on. Hopefully, we learned a lesson and did not repeat the mistake again. Older adults are not exempt from flying into glass doors. This can be a tough time as we begin to see that goals we had set for ourselves are not going to be achieved. Youth is fleeting, and in an attempt to hold on tightly to it we make some very foolish mistakes that knock us out. Some of us eventually recover, others never do. Some lose everything.

There are many good pieces of advice to help us avoid the windows of destruction. But my favorite is “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

If we fly this course we are less likely to be like the bug that flew into the windshield, and those birds that went “Splat” into my patio door.