From The Land of Captivity

 

The little chipmunk sat on the back porch for a long time the other morning, like a dog waiting to come inside.  He looked so forlorn, overlooking the trap that had captured so many of his extended family.  “He’s the last one!” said our youngest daughter when I emailed her the adorable picture.  Those who have been following this blog know of our adventures in trying to keep our patio from caving in entirely because of a chipmunk condo development dug out beneath the paving stones.  Last year, I stopped counting at 38.  This year, I did not keep track at all, and I didn’t even bait the trap.  Set the trap and they will come.  And they hurried on into the trap, like bargain hunters at a sale, sometimes as many as three a day.

I imagined the chipmunk saying to himself as he sat on the porch, “Where did they all go?  I want to go too.”   My husband reset the trap, and within two minutes, there he was, ready to go on a field trip to the forest preserve with the others.

 

I  thought of capturing chipmunks today, one at a time.  And I also mused about capturing rogue thoughts, one by one, as they wander through my mind, little destructive critters like criticism, fear, a cynical mindset, bad attitudes, jealousy, discontent, grumbling, anxiety, and pride.  They scramble about and dig around the foundations of my soul, distracting me from what I should really focus on like joy and kindness, thankfulness, concern for others, love, truth and grace.  I have learned this summer to nab those destructive thoughts before they take up residence and intentionally replace them with their opposite, one by one.  Trap a complaint and replace it with a praise.  Capture envy and replace it with a prayer for that person.  And as I capture those rascals one by one, God has enabled me to see others through different eyes, deeply healing some relationships, not necessarily changing my situation but how I respond to it, giving me peace where anxiety used to reign supreme.  Set the trap and be ready to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10.5)   Daily intentional choices, one by one. 

I am a work in progress and so I am very aware that I will not ever entirely rid my mind of misbehaving thoughts, but I know that God can provide me the discernment to recognize them for what they are and the strength to keep them from taking over and running rampant.  They don’t have to dominate my life anymore.

Let me be different on what I dwell.

 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

                            Psalm 51.10