Thriving in the Midst of Adversity

Just the other day I went to see the incredible documentary "March of the Penguins." As the opening credits roll viewers see a breathtaking, but desolate expanse of icebergs, snow, and frigid ocean. As the camera pans across the barren frozen wasteland the roar of the harsh wind (that we later learn is a chilling eighty degrees below zero!) it begins to hone in on a distant ice shelf.

Atop that ice ridge we see a long line of tiny black dots- figures that look like ants marching. Surely nothing could survive under these conditions!?! Then as the scene zooms in closer, we discover that it is a line of thousands of emperor penguins making their annual journey 70 miles inland to mate, guard their eggs, and huddle together without food for literally months at a time to protect their eggs until the baby penguins hatch.

Then something amazing and unexpected happens. The mother and father penguins do an awkward sort of dance and transfer the egg, so that the male penguins end up nestling the fragile egg between its feet and the fold of its abdominal skin.

Amazing stuff!

Not only that- but the males huddle together in the subzero temperatures with winds and snow of up to 100 MPH for weeks more while the females return to the sea to hunt for food for them and their baby. Some never make it back. Some chicks don't make it through the cold, harsh winter. Still these penguins journey on- undeterred.

These amazing birds are remarkably adaptable and resilient. They face the harshest conditions on earth and still thrive. Nature is filled with amazing creatures and plants that adapt to overcome the biggest challenges the environment can throw at them.

I gained a whole new perspective from this film. Suddenly the heat wave that our region has faced doesn't seem quite so bad.

In many ways, we humans are both some of the most innovative, and least adaptable creatures on the planet. Innovative with all the many discoveries, scientific advances and technologies we have developed. Least adaptable in that we are bothered and complain by even the slightest changes in our routines and environment.

As Jared Diamond also points out astutely in his recent book Collapse, humankind has an enormous responsibility to be good stewards of the earth and all that is in it.

Still, over the course of human history, society after society has collapsed due to abusing and/or depleting their environment. Abusing or neglecting through deforestation; overhunting or overfishing; pollution; and also by failing to adapt cultural practices to new environment.

That analogy applies to each of us on our own spiritual journey as well. The opportunities for growth and renewed spiritual vitality are always there if we take the reasonable risk of exploring, and discovering what gives us life spiritually.

Some ways we can cultivate this spiritual journey are through meditation, prayer, spending time in nature, reading and reflecting on scripture and spiritual/devotional writings. Take the risk of going on the spiritual journey. It is the only way to meaningful life. When we earnestly set out on that journey, we have nothing to lose but our anxieties and everything to gain...

Peace to you on the journey,

John