Designs of the Heart

When the sun shines…when the wind blows…when the birds chirp…when the leaves rustle, do we have the time to stop, look and listen. The sunrise, sunset, thunder, lightning, rain and the flora and the fauna around us teach us many things. The might of the great mountains, the vastness of the deserts, and the depths of the oceans make us aware of the great mystery called the universe. Modern world and all its problems have changed our lives manifold. A small awakening sends us racing to different places in search of peace.

Just allow nature to speak to you to understand the journey called life. When we find something to enjoy, we have found a pathway to great value and fulfillment. We can always choose honest, honourable objectives and pursue them with respect, positive action, diligence and understanding. The fact is that things will not get better until we go ahead and move forward. Often we get wrapped up in a tangled mess of inaction by wondering and worrying about what might happen. Instead, we can be enthusiastic about what will happen when we make the effort to make a positive difference.

Understanding our physical surroundings lead us to rectify automatically our moral milieu. By observing the small details, necessary adjustments can be made both in our way of thinking and in the manner of adapting to a situation. When we direct our thoughts, we realize that conditions regularly change and we too have the opportunity to either change with them or even go ahead of them.

We are always surrounded by the sounds of nature and we discover who we are. Nature being our superstore, we simply take advantage of our resources and put nothing back because of our greed. We have polluted the water, soil and air. We have ruined the balance of ecology and watched species after species become extinct, yet we continue to exploit nature. The destruction of natural habitat is the price we are paying for the progress and development around us.

The cultures that live close to nature often have more compassion for it as they feel the changes and patterns of the elements. We who live in the industrial nations are busy building walls around ourselves leading to isolation from nature. As we do not feel nature’s touch, we are not compassionate towards it. Before doing anything or deciding to do, our one concern should be, ‘Will it please Jesus?’ The personal commitment to our Lord should be out of love and not compulsion. We must accept our Lord’s dominion over our life.

We need to be connected to the mighty power always, like the tree that stays alive, blooms and bears fruit when it is provided with conditions that are favourable. If its roots are severed from the mineral resources, it will not be able to pull up any sap to keep the branches, flowers and fruits alive. In the same way all our activities, relationships, attitudes bear fruition only when we stay connected to the powerful force in life. It is never too late to put back something as nature too gives us all wake up calls to discipline us in the form of tsunami, volcano, earthquakes, hurricanes etc. Nature’s law is not like man’s law. If we ignore it we have to face the consequences. This applies to human relationships as well.

People form an impression about us not on how we appear but on how well we treat them. We can be valuable and useful to others by being truly interested and willing to make a difference. No one can achieve excellence just by proclaiming it to be. When people pull us down, we should push forward with integrity and commitment to goodness. To grow into a confident person, we need to resist the temptation to be drawn into meaningless squabbles. Life is too precious to waste even a single moment on someone else’s misguided negativity.

No matter what the outer circumstances pose before us, the most effective strategy is to get our inner strength revved up. We have to love life and put that love to action by faithfully and competently attending to the details. So watch the flower bloom, listen to the humming of the insects and smell the fragrance of pristine air. The combination of sights, smells and sounds gives us a light headed feeling and helps us to sense a deeper connection with nature. Only then can we enjoy diving into life’s pleasures and enjoy working through life’s problems.