What No Electricity Taught Me

Like many people in the meeting, I was without power for a couple of days.  My unique concern was not for staying warm or cooking (thankfully I have a wood stove), but for keeping the water out of my basement.  No power, no sump pump. 

By day two, the water was creeping up to 2" high and at 3" the furnace and the hot water heater are in jeopardy. 

My mind is built like Eeyores.  When the power went out, the gloom sets in. I begin catastrophizing and cursing myself for all the stuff I did not do; like buying a generator. 

What I learned is that my worst fears were never realized. The water stopped at 2 inches.  It just percolated up and decided not to go further in spite of my thinking I'd be cold, dark and wet. 

The point is this: Be careful what you sow.  The mind is a curious thing and for better or worse very few of us are built like Tigger.  We tend to expect the worst and go there in our minds -- especially when the power goes out. 

If my thoughts are seeds, I must take care to choose good seeds and plant them where they will do the most good. 


Matthew 13:  The Parable of the Sower

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Joseph Olejak