Expressing Peace. Internal Compass. 90.
What’s Your Compass?
Recent research finds evidence that cows have an internal compass. Using Google Earth satellite photographs of more than 8,000 cows worldwide, Hynek Burda discovered that virtually every cow faced due north or south when grazing or resting. That’s lined up with earth’s magnetism.
Papaw, my granddad, never carried a compass. He never got lost. He knew the earth signs: the sun rises in the east, sets in the west; moss grows on trees’ north side. I won’t claim he had an internal compass, but he always knew where he was going.
Monarch butterflies navigate their migration between the US and central Mexico by sunlight primarily. When it’s cloudy they somehow follow the magnetic clues that earth provides. That’s their internal compass.
I’ve heard more than one person claim their car has a compass (or a mind) of its own. It’s driven from home to work and back so often, it knows the route “by heart.”
There must be something peaceful, comforting, and secure about facing in line with earth’s magnetism. 8,000 cows out of 8,000 cows are persuasive. Grandkids followed Papaw into the woods without a bit of worry. We knew he knew how to get from here to wherever. And back. Butterflies don’t rest in the shade; they flap on, certain they’ll get to Sierra Chincua, Mexico. As planned.
Maybe you don’t trust your car entirely to get you home. But the peace that you know how to get there is plenty nice.
All that’s physical. What about our spiritual compass? What is the peace that we know where we are and we know where we’re going?
Can answer only for me. It’s familiarity. Familiarity from finding and knowing the comfort of truth: how praying lets me feel, my knowing if I listen I will hear, the joy from some new way of knowing Presence. Maybe familiarity is another name for faith.
What is the power source of your spiritual compass?
Good Friend Who Holds the Compass,
what joyful relief to let you show the way.
The peace that flows from letting go
my need to struggle blazing trails,
the peace that comes from opening my heart
to hear you gently urge which path to take.
You are my Compass. You are the Magnet
drawing me ceaselessly to you.
And if I turn, attempting to walk another way,
your steady pull returns me
to the way I want to go.
Guiding Spirit, the peace from trusting
your direction frees me
to know the thrill and energy
life’s journey is.
And so it is. Amen. Amen.
Enjoy Peace. Express Peace.
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