I watched this dragon fly with some interest as its wings showed marks of ageing and bruising! Its wings looked ragged and damaged on both sides. It remained still on the rose bud for a while for this close inspection.
As one used to listening to the stories of people who feel hurt and bruised emotionally due toe rev developmental challenges of their children, I got a sense of the trouble this dragonfly would have to negotiate the strong winds and air currents during this season of inclement whether. I have noticed dragon flies high in the air getting carried away by the air current and steady themselves to fly!
I feel that it is common for all of us to get carried away by the events in the circumstances. Sometimes the events around us are far too difficult to be overcome.
What struck me about this dragonfly is its hold on the rose bud. A 360 degree view of the way the dragonfly was resting gave me a sense of the strength it receives form the bud. Its holding power is not necessarily strong but the hold on a bud which is not swaying in the air current gives it the stability while resting in between is flight.
The writer of Psalm 131 in verse 2 shared his experience of living restfully: 'I have composed and quieted my soul'. They are two dimensions of restful living. Th composure is an attitude of the mind towards events within and without. There is a sense of coming to terms with the events. It is when one accepts the turbulence, it looses its grip on us. The feelings of fear, threat, disappointment or failure would get displaced when one receives the situation as transitory and transitional. The pain does not disappear but the strength to turn the pain to a creative direction evolves in our mindset. It is then the next dimension of quietness can set in. The agitated mind finds its respite because we move to process the experiences at a deeper level through the optic of life lessons and past experiences. The stillness is both given and acquired. Given, because the experiences of the past gives us an outlook of hope and peace as we can recall similar experiences and feel strengthened by the outcome. Acquired, because, at the soul level, we are given an anchor to stay centred in God consciousness. It is by practice we develop this orientation.
When we can move on to this quietude, what happens then is a composure of the mind and stillness in our soul.
The dragon fly found its resting place and its strength to hold on although its wings were bruised!
This is the story of hope in every situation when we feel overwhelmed!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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