Fox Dens, Birds Nests, and a Place to Rest

Frankie Fox has been such a pleasure these last few weeks. Watching him grow has made me marvel at the beauty of nature. When he first came on our deck he was just a little thing learning how to walk, his legs wobbly and his belly puffy with baby fat. I love seeing his expression of wonder as he sniffs flowers, chases lightning bugs and basks in the sun.

June for Frankie:

Wobbling up the stairs

Not sure why the stair is so high!

Looking into his home.

Staying steady on all four paws.

And growing into July:

Frankie grooms himself like a cat.

Naptime for Frankie

Good morning Frankie, be a good little fox.

Likewise this year it has been incredible to see nature blooming all around us. The birds have been so busy singing their dawn and dusk songs. I love getting to know which chirp belongs to which bird. They all know when to warn us that storms with lightning and thunder are coming as they express their caution with total silence. Last week we walked down to say hello to the horses and we found a perfect round little nest. It was a perfect little sphere with a nugget hole in the middle like an empty avocado. 

Look at that! Wouldn't it have been fun to round it out if you were a bird? Scooting around in the nest must be nice.

The horse don't know about the birds that have their homes above their heads.

Little nest, big life ahead for little wings!

I found it so incredibly fitting that the reading for the week at mass was on our friends: the fox, the bird and the creator of both. (At a Catholic mass there are several readings and the one before the homily is called the Gospel and is usually something that Jesus told the disciples on how to live. A guide to life if you will.) Anyway, the gospel was on our dear woodland friends and Jesus. In Luke 9: 57-58 Jesus is walking with the disciples who by now really like Him and want to live like Him. "And they were walking along the road, and someone said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

He made Frankie fox and the birds to make nests. How amazing!

 It goes on to show two other people who wanted to follow Jesus but one wanted to spend time with his aging father first and the other wanted to spend time with family before deciding. The priest who gave the homily, Father Larry Swink which you can hear here (date 06/30/19) said it was the three P's in the examples in the Gospel for not wanting to give Jesus a place to rest in our hearts:

1. Popularity: face it, you will not be with the popular, intellectual or socially high crowd if you choose to follow Christ. It's that simple. Jesus is sweetness beyond words but being a Christian gets all types of labels and rejection thrown at you. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a NY Socialite, threw away the glamour, prestige and parties to become a nun and open a school for the poor. 

2. Procrastination: Maybe dabble with learning about this Christianity thing but later....once you have time, the degree, the fun etc. Not now. Pray? After I nap, you know I have a headache when it rains. And then there are those dishes to do. 

3. Past: we keep looking at our past in a way that doesn't let us grow in faith in our present and future. 

It was a good homily. I have been mentally chewing on this as I've watched Frankie the Fox run around our yard and take complete control of the deck. He is totally blissful. As I've watched him I have been so happy for him to have a safe home under our deck and wonder and bliss as he grows and gets to know his little world. I have wondered about the little birds from the nests and asked myself where they are now. And in my mind it leaves the third part of the Bible verse empty, "The Son of Man has no where to lay his head." Well why not?! I have asked myself. If the sweet baby fox has his den, and the bird has his nest then why did Jesus not have a place to lay his head? I've thought a lot about Fr. Swinks 3 P's (Popularity, Procrastination and Past) but I think for me the main one is just plain not believing in Jesus being in everything and in every situation. Example; if you look at the sky it is blue and He made it, how can you not just stare at it when you come to realize that someone who loves you made that amazing sky! Or the leaves that are green (usually) they are all different, like we are all different from each other, but we have a creator who loves us with each of our differences just like his imagination to make those types of leaves. Crazy amazing! Or what Frankie Fox who is red like an apple and loves to chase his baby fox tale till he's exhausted. God created that little amazing crazy baby fox too! I'm totally in love with this creator who made amazing things but also asked us to have compassion and give him a place to rest in us. 

A pillow of love rather than a rock of rejection to rest his head would be nice.

It's like a friend who buys you a house, breathes air into your lungs, gives you freedom to be yourself and just asks to be with you for a bit because He thinks you are just that awesome and made you to love you and to be loved by you. Nothing more. There is the rest. You rest when you give your love right back. 

My inspiration to help me think about this Bible verse has been:

This talk by Sister Bethany Madonna on "Receiving the Promise" it is about Jesus meeting us where we are in our life how we are in our life. The 9 minute mark is great.

And this song by Kari Jobe has been on repeat with the lyrics of the second verse, "Clothed in rainbows of living color, flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder." I love thinking of God dressed in the nature He created: Blue sky, green leaves, red fox, grey squirrels, purple violets etc. He is living in color.