Much of my feathery life is a bit of a balancing act, -as it is for all parrots who like to sit on perches or hang off wobbly branches.
And that term, “balancing act,” is very much in the news right now as politicians and leaders try to steer the best course through the Coronavirus pandemic. Between public health and freedom and the needs of the economy.
In fact, nearly all of us have performed a kind of balancing act in our lives since we were chicks or children. But so often we didn’t realise it. Every day of our lives, we process our environment, and make decisions about what we think or how we behave. And it’s all of these decisions which determine the balance in our lives. For example, the balance between work and home life. Between need and greed. Between our own interests and those of others. And ultimately between goodness and sin.
God is the only living being that is perfectly balanced. Humans tend to fluctuate from one side to the other or stay rooted in the same spot, but rarely in the calm of the middle. Humanity will always be imperfect; it’s the imbalance within humans that results in arguments, prejudice, wars and sin. And ultimately, sin never results in happiness.
So, are we open and honest enough to recognise our faults and flaws, and then do something about them? Can we cope with being challenged about what we think or do, or perhaps about what we fail to do? Do we listen to God and Jesus when they speak to us through our inner conscience or through our feelings of regret?
There can only be a true sense of balance in our lives when we allow the spirit of God to enter inside us. To help us to steer a course through all of the contradictions, the prejudices and turmoil of our inner selves and the world around us.
And when we find ourselves enveloped by a storm, -as some folk are by the Covid crisis, -do we simply allow ourselves to be blown around in the turmoil like some small piece of debris, or do we actively decide to move closer to God and then drop anchor there? Where our ship barely sways in the balanced calm, as the storm rages all around?
