Birds and Worms

While walking through downtown Mt. Vernon last weekend, we saw a sign for sale in a shop window. Painted on the sign were the words - the early bird gets the worm. There were other home decor items for sale in the window but as we kept walking that phrase rattled around in my head. Even after browsing through three antique shops and a fabric store the bird and the worm hadn't left my mind. The phrase itself wasn't new - I had heard it a thousand times - so why the bird and worm took up residence in my head was beyond me. But then I knew. Perspective.

If one is a bird it is best to get up early - but from a different perspective it is best to sleep late. Just think about the worm. It is that friendly, little, wiggly worm that is still burrowing in the recesses of my mind.

You see, pain comes in many different forms and this past week was painful, very painful, for me personally, as well as for several people who are dear to my heart. And when it came to perspective, I failed. I am still failing. As I look forward to the week ahead I still see pain, lots of pain. And to be honest, I don't like it. At all. But maybe, like the worm, I need to look at things from a different perspective.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

As we walk the path of pain, may we remember the worm and keep perspective.