Sometimes I am caught off guard. I just don’t expect it. Today, it happened when I went for a run. I was cooling off before getting back in the car and I looked down to see what is in the picture. Yes, it is a storm sewer cover in a parking lot. No big deal…they are in lots of places. What caught my attention is what else is written on it…”Do Not Enter…Confined Space”. I thought…you’ve got to be kidding me. People actually have to be warned not to crawl into this hole…and they have to be told it is a confined space. To give you a perspective on the size, I put my foot next to it, which is almost the size of the hole! What in the world? In my often said word…REALLY?!?
Have we really become a society that has to be told not to enter a small hole and warned that it is a confined space? Now, I understand it is a liability issue. This way, companies are covered. But the fact that this even has to be stated is shocking to me. Seeing this caused me to start looking around at all the signs in our lives. We see signs to give us directions, warn us of construction ahead, suggest a speed limit, tell us someone is cutting grass on the road side, and even to stop us from going down the wrong side of a one way street. Signs are good…if we follow them.
There are signs everywhere…even signs our bodies give us. We are warned when we are stressing too much or overly anxious. We are sometimes given warnings when there is something wrong that we didn’t even realize was wrong – like getting tingling in our arm when the arteries to the heart is blocked. Spiritually, there are signs too. When we are out of touch with our Creator…when we have distanced ourselves from the One that loves us…when we have avoided the time to be still and listen…we suffer spiritually. Our lives get off track. We begin to lose the joy we once had. We find that something isn’t quite right. It is in those times that I realize my quiet time has been missing…my time of listening and meditation…my time of communion with God.
I am grateful for warning signs…I just pray I pay enough attention to follow them. What warning signs have you been receiving lately?
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 