Imprinting Our World

(What began as a haiku turned into a reflection - see post after photo.)

The imprint we choose:

Fear, Anxiousness? Or each step

Sowing seeds of peace.

We went hiking the other day, jacketed against the Autumn breeze. We breathed deep among the trees, and we smiled under showers of leaves.

We prepared for mud, because rain had filled these trails a few days earlier. The mud allowed us to see who else had recently walked these trails. I saw prints of someone with a size 9 and evidence of someone trail running, along with the usual suspects of rabbits and raccoons.

I looked behind to see what followed me. How did I imprint the earth, and how would other people perceive the way I walked?

This reminds me of this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh:“Although we walk all the time, our walking is more like running. When we walk like that, we print anxiety and sorrow on the Earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace on the Earth”

It reminds me of Jesus encouraging people to remember that in what or in whom we trust will affect our steps. (See below)

How we trust (and in whom / what) will impact our own lives, and it impacts those around us…

I wonder what imprint you’ll leave around you today…

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

(from the paraphrase “The Message”)