An adventure we've been having in Maui for sure, yesterday we found out that my pack (worn proudly by me in the picture two posts down on this blog) with everything I need for working on the farm and living in Hawaii long term was stolen and I was left to celebrate my 31st birthday with just the clothes on my back. Thankfully we were camping so we still have our tent, sleeping bags, camera and food. Nicole's stuff was untouched, so aside from the sweet rain boots we found her that were packed away in my backpack she still has everything she needs.
It's been an interesting year for me in this area. Having never had anything stolen from me prior to this year it started with my $2,000 road bike, then my 1988 Toyota 4Runner with lots off sweat equity and then all my belongings :) It has become amazingly apparent to me how tightly I can hold on to things and feel a right to claim them as my own. One minute I have something and the next it's gone. That leaves me with a choice of how i will react and my reaction largely controls how i experience this life.
I believe that heaven, and the proverbial hell, are experienced here and now, on this earth, everyday, and we have the power to choose which one we will experience moment by moment. Was any of that stuff in "my" pack mine to begin with? What is the concept of ownership? An idea we made up? Because this piece of paper has some signatures on it in certain places, and other funny words on it, it means this vehicle "belongs" to me. What about the land I'm standing on, does it really "belong" to someone because they have a piece of paper with a special seal on it that another human made up saying so? I believe native Americans were on to something when the British came over and they couldn't comprehend the idea of land "ownership." I believe that everything we have and enjoy on this Earth is on loan to us, it is with us one minute and gone the next. I want to be grateful each moment for what I am currently borrowing and when it is called back to be lent to another, graciously let it go. What freedom this has brought me...Heaven, now!
