Sugar High
Her mouth needed something to chew. She looked through her chew toys--some were soft, some hard, some made sounds--she liked variety. None of them seemed to be just the right texture for what she wanted--something crunchy, but not too hard; noisy, but not so much that mom and dad would come looking to see what she was chewing.
Her brothers were playing; leaping from chair to table. They left a trail behind of interesting items. She went over to check out the latest debris. Most of it was of no interest, but there was one thing. It smelled interesting. It was big enough to get a good grip on with her teeth and still fill her mouth. She picked it up--it crackled and was soft and firm at the same time.
She carried her new toy over to her favorite spot to chew. She tested it out once and liked the crackly sounds it made. She bit down hard. The new toy broke in her jaws with a pleasing snap. She bit down again and it shattered in her mouth.
"Tasty! Minty . . . satisfying" once she got rid of the crinkly paper around it.
She bit down again. This was much better tasting than her rawhide chews. Quickly she went to work, devouring her new find. Rather than eat the whole thing at once, she saved part of it for later. Dad came out of his office and confiscated it anyway.
"Wow, that was really, really good" she thought as she began to pace the house. Quickly she began to race her private track into the kitchen, around the other side, to the front door, through the living room, down the hall, back to the library and into the kitchen again. She ran a few laps . . . okay, a dozen or so, and then went to wake up mom.
Screeching to a halt at the closed bedroom door she pawed at the door: tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. No response. Mom must really be out. She tried tapping at the door another dozen or so times. No response. Throwing herself at the door she head butted it and it opened.
Rushing to the bed she drummed her way around the mattress. "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom . . . wake up." She leaped onto the bed and tried pawing her awake. "Come on mom, wake up!" Leaping back to the floor she ran a couple of her laps through the house to come back and tap her way around the bed again. "MOM, WAKE UP!"
"Dita, would you please leave me alone! It's my day off--let me sleep."
Running a few more laps through the house she returned to the bedroom. "Oh good, mom's up." She wove herself around mom's feet as she walked through the house. "Dita! Chill!"
Dad came out of his office again . . . grabbed her leash . . . and headed to the front door. She raced to him "play time, play time, play time . . . come on daddy, let's go play."
"What got into her this morning?" mom asked dad.
"Um, I found this on the floor" he told her as he held up the last couple of inches of a foot long stick candy cane.
"Oh no, she's on a sugar high!"
When the folks quite yapping, she and dad and her sister went outside. She ran . . . and ran . . . and ran . . . and ran. It was over a half hour before they had to go back in the house. She was so happy. When they came back inside, she got a long drink, ran a few laps, and then went to her mom who was calling her.
"Dita, baby, you have got to chill out." Shaking her head, mom laughed as she investigated the house. Finally, she came over to mom and sat for some pets. It felt good. Mom's hands were calming. Maybe she would rest for just a moment. Sliding down to the floor, she stretched once and dreamed the dreams of puppies. She was out of the count.
We are often the same way. We have so many toys as our disposal, but we continue to seek for that which is different, more enticing, more tasty, more . . . just more. Once we find something we indulge and indulge and indulge until we are sated. We find ourselves on a temporary high and when we crash, we crash hard.
Sometimes that is even how we are about God. We find one thought or one concept and that is all we think about. We lose the big picture. Our personal blinders keep our focus on the one thing rather than the diverse, inclusive love of God. Too often when this happens and our narrow focus fails us, we crash--and crash hard.
God, we find your ways sweet and satisfying. It is so easy for us to find ourselves in the middle of a sugar high--rushing about without considering all your teachings and ways. When we run out of what we consider sweet we crash, but God, we know you are always there for us. Waiting for us to wear ourselves out and ready to listen and learn all your ways. So be it. Amen.
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