I’ve spent too much time this week thinking about bats. How can a little creature that weighs a half-ounce monopolize my time and discombobulate me so successfully? On Monday night, the Missouri Brown Bat flew around my bedroom. I called “Batman” from the KC Missouri Animal Department but he couldn’t find the little bat. So my husband and I moved to the guest room where we would be safe should Bat fly again. The next day another “Batman” charged me $300 dollars to also not find the bat in my room. The day after that Bat joined Dave and me in the guest room and the critter flew right into my arm. So we gave up and went to a hotel for the night, leaving Bat free reign of our home! On day four, I met my third “Batman” who actually found the little half-ounce critter taking a long nap in my dining room curtains and carried him away with kitchen tongs for observation and eventual release.
I told “Batman” number three that I wanted to kiss his feet! I was so happy to have my home back! Almost instantly the feeling of panic dissipated. I had not quite realized the tension I was carrying. Dave and I both felt unsettled, out of whack and off-kilter. Yet powerless to fix it. When we get frustrated, it can feel impossible to solve a problem. Anxiety and worry can be paralyzing. I suppose you are now wondering what the takeaway wisdom from this incident might be. And I have been wondering the same.
So often the anxiety and dread we carry cannot be vanquished as simply as ejecting the bat. The gnawing effects of fear and anxiety whittle away at us. The source might be cancer or addiction or looming debt or infertility or a dead-end job. No one will come and carry it off in a little black case. So it continues to cloud our thinking and make our hearts pound with fear. Maybe we are too stuck even to pray.
Just before the third “Batman” showed up and carried away the half-ounce creature, two friends called and said they were on their way over to find and remove the bat. That meant the world to me. And maybe it is the only way through any anxiety-producing situation. Friendship. To let a friend know where you worry. And to share the challenge in human community.
Psalm 30 declares “Weeping may come in the night, but joy comes in the morning”. What brings joy is not only the rising sun, but the human faces of those who will see our tears and rise up to walk with us into a new day. The Divine Peace comes to us through those who care for us and courageously walk alongside us.
Grace and Peace,
Carla
