Laurie Klein, Scribe

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Little Things: Between Noels, Part I

by Laurie Klein 14 Chiming In

Little things . . . Once upon a yard, I collected maple samaras. Ladybugs. Pea-sized mystery-spheres I found under shrubs — until Dad explained bunny droppings.

To this day, I still watch for meaning amid the miniscule.

Friends, here we are again, between Noels, past and pending. I’ve been reading about creatures that might have shared that long-ago Holy Night. Welcome to “Little Things: Between Noels, Part I (of IV).”

Because little things are a mixed bag.

For instance: Years ago, after our daughter returned from a mission trip tormented by hatching head lice, Dreamer and I spent hours combing sticky nits from strand after strand of her thick hair.

Parental love to the rescue — liberating one cherished, vulnerable scalp.

Aesop said, “No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.”

Do our grown children remember our past, painstaking efforts? To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, When little things afflict us, even small actions can console us.

Two sisters in Holland, arrested for rescuing Jews during WWII, were remanded to Ravensbrück concentration camp. In Barracks 28, the ten Boom girls slept on reeking pallets swarming with fleas. Their prayers of gratitude for being alive and together included repeated pleas for relief from the infestation.

The vermin, however, thrived.

And those blood-sucking parasites? Turns out, they repelled sadistic prison guards. No inspections. No beatings. No rapes.

Compassion to the rescue — paradoxically — via pestilence.

So consider the likelihood of itch mites infesting Bethlehem straw: Some types bite; others burrow beneath the skin and lay eggs, causing a contagious, festering rash.

Did they forgo their nature and leave baby Jesus in peace? Oh, I hope so! And if not, do mites possess any redeeming qualities?

I Google . . . and find . . . no crucial link in the food chain, no rare source of protein, no secret component to help cure disease.

And yet. The utterly despised were granted proximity to Emmanuel, God with us. Compassionate, cherishing Love vulnerably offered to all creation — no matter how repellent or negligible.

Sometimes, it’s the little things. Head lice, fleas, itch mites — one Creator, three ordeals. Head-scratchers, all. Like the teachings of Jesus: If you want to be first, embrace being last. Find yourself by losing yourself.

Truth nips: It gets under our skin and bides its time, hatching later perhaps, as revelation.

Merciful, mysterious God, thank you for your enduring forbearance and endless largesse — embodied for us through, and in spite of, so many little things.

Friend, where might a dash of compassion take you next?

“Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.”   —The Dalai Lama

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Flea story here

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

You might also enjoy “Small but Mighty”

Filed Under: Immersions Tagged With: compassion, fleas, head lice, itch mites, little things, love, parasites, pestilence, truth November 30, 2024

Shake-up: 1 Quaking Aspen, 2 Revelations

by Laurie Klein 10 Chiming In

Shake-up time: Will this tree die?

Camera in hand, I’ve stepped outdoors primed for delight, hoping for insight: another digitized Blog Fairy seeking truth.

What am I to make of this quaking aspen leaf with its arresting, toxic calligraphy? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Immersions Tagged With: aspen leaf, here, invasion, revelation, shake-up, truth July 9, 2017

Holidays, Saying Yes to Unexpected Gifts

by Laurie Klein 15 Chiming In

Holidays, here they come . . .

Holiday weeping

And I’ve already blown it. Big time. Boy, am I sorry.

In the Christmas month when we reflect on Mary’s humble surrender to God, I unleashed an emotional vortex.

Personal desolation freighted each word I spoke. In return, hard-hitting truths were spoken to me. Pain—both past and present—collided, blinding me to how my words were hurting the other person. I made it all about me.

Holidays' dark side

Conversation became an eruption. And later, when I was alone, an implosion.

Thank God. (Wait. Did she really just say that?)

Yes. Severe mercy was at work.

Professor Randy Pausch, in The Last Lecture, describes chronically disappointing his boyhood football coach. One day, the coach lit into him. The coach’s assistant, trying to encourage young Pausch, said this:

When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.

Dutch Uncle

Someone cared enough to tell me the hard truth. Such a person was once called a Dutch Uncle: one who speaks directly, even sternly to instruct, inspire, or admonish someone.

I was a wreck. Now God was offering me the chance for deep emotional healing through the words of the very person I’d wounded. Would I accept?

Even Mary, confronted with the angel Gabriel speaking for God, faced wrenching, unimaginable change. Probably trembling, she asked, “How will this be?”

Holidays, angst

The angel’s answer was cryptic.

Mary still said Yes.

A personal New Year

Yes, ache and frustration spewed that day. I discovered a place so raw only Love would care to, and dare to, lay it bare. Breathe on it. Ease it. Which felt awful, and right.

My meltdown bridged Thanksgiving and my birthday. For years I’ve followed Madeleine L’Engle’s custom of using her birthday (a date we share) to launch her personal New Year.

Today, having said my “Yes” to the healing process, having resolved to change, I’m heading toward 2017 with a new mindset, hoping blessings will follow.

Poet Adrienne Rich once said:

When a woman tells the truth, she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.

Holidays lit by hope

Holidays: from the depths to the heights

We know emotions spike during holidays. We miss those no longer with us. We try to delight those who are still here. We hope for peace in our world, peace in our families. Our churches. Our places of work.

And we both bless and blow it.

Despite our mistakes, new life keeps heading toward us. In my case, literally. We will soon welcome our fourth windfall grandchild. The due date? New Year’s Eve.

Such is the love of God that new life is always on its way. It’s heading for our doorsteps even now.

Will we make room for change in our lives?

Make room for Him?

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How might these holidays usher in healing for you?

Filed Under: Immersions Tagged With: Dutch uncle, healing, holidays, Mary, truth, unexpected gifts, yes December 5, 2016

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House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life

House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life
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House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life
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Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography

Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography
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Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography
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