As a kid, like
a lot of us, I rode an amusement park log ride. I remember gently rocking past
scenic waterfall and stone displays during its route. I was lulled into a sense
of uneventful security.
Merrily,
merrily, this ride seemed to be a dream.
But, as the
serene ride continued, it became a bit more bizarre.
To this day,
I’m still not sure about what I saw in one of the caves. As I was taking
everything in, there was an unusual placement of a small stuffed dragon, with
spring loaded eyes, googly greeting us log riders. To my knowledge, it was not
a science fiction or fairytale theme kind of ride. I don’t know if it was an
inside joke, a bored amusement park employee’s prank or if there was a deeper meaning
to its presence.
But, rest
assured, as only my little over-analytical mind could do, I obsessed. The why
question wanted to know. Why, in a
wet log ride, was there the impractical choice to display a mold-and
mildew-prone fabric toy? Why was it a
dragon? Why wasn’t it a fish or some
more appropriate water-friendly critter? Why
were its eyes all springy and googly? Why
was it in the cave?
Just what,
in tarnation, was going on here?
As these
questions filled my eight-year-old mind, we reached the very top of the ride-
to the drop off point. I had become so focused on that stuffed dragon, this
part of the ride had escaped my mind entirely.
That was,
however, until I felt the intense G-force, the speed and the splashing of the
water, once we landed.
Years’
later, I cannot but help make the weird association with this dragon log ride
and the scripture which cautions us about the old log- in- the- eye truth...
“Judge not, that you
be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with
the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that
is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or
how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when
there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's
eye.
Translation
here?
“Mind your own
business.”
Indeed, in
my own amusement park scenario, it occurred to me just how obsessed I was.
I was
meddling. So preoccupied with all of the possible explanations for a stuffed
dragon’s reality, I missed out on the majority of the log ride itself. No, I
could not explain, let alone, control anything and everything attached to that
dragon. I couldn’t take it, throw it in the water or destroy it. It existed and
there was nothing I could do about that.
It challenges
us all in our lives, in our hypocrisy and recovery-themed issues, doesn’t it?
We don’t
know...
...the back
story...
...the
reasons why...
...the pain
associated...
...someone
else’s reality...
We don’t
know.
“And to aspire to
live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we
instructed you.”
And, to get
so wrapped up in judging someone else’s situation, especially if it involves a
personally devastating plummet, defeats our own recovery. It hinders the
attention we need to give to our issues. It prevents us from doing our work.
What is the “distraction
dragon” which stops us from dealing with ourselves?
Is it the
reassuring luxury of reality television?
Is it the
glee we obtain when we blood sport judge someone who is “so much worse” than we
could ever be?
Is it the
excuse of being busy (as in busybody), believing we’re “helping,” when, in
reality, no one even asked for our help, let alone, our opinion?
Are we so
consumed with our dragons, that we miss the entire point of the ride?
We are
mindless in this regard. And, therefore, if we are this mindless, how could we ever
expect to achieve the health and prosperity which comes from the hard, personal
inventory of “minding our own business?”
What are our
lives about: out of place dragon “specks” or true work concerning our ugly,
difficult “log-in-the-eye” rides?
What we see
plays a huge role, indeed, in eventually, what we will become.
Caution fellow
ride goers: there’s a drop off a-coming.
“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep
going and pay the penalty.”
Proverbs 27:12
Copyright © 2017 by
Sheryle Cruse
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