Running with the Squirrels

There are a lot of critters on this campus. My friend Joy, running to make her class, had a close encounter by shocking one of the squirrels here, and they ended up taking a light jog together near the forest. After a moment, he realized that a turn would lead him to the safety of the nearby trees and away from this lumbering giant (Joy doesn't lumber like a giant, but to a squirrel this is a reality).
Sometimes my reactions to surprising experiences are similar to the squirrel's shock. My response is to just keep running in the same direction, to take action without thinking, until some profound moment of grace hits me with opportunity. Instead of trying to outrun the giant that is taking over my thoughts, and focusing on how surprised I am, I need to turn and redirect myself. At college, it is easy to get lost in stress, relationships, social activities, homework, etc. We live in our little world, just like the squirrels live in their little forest of Houghton, where everything (other than a mall) is set up for us. What needs to happen is some redirection, or a re-focusing, so we can keep growing. We need surprising incidents to keep us on our toes, so that when we do turn back into our little world, we bring change and new knowledge.
It's nice to get off of campus, as everytime we leave we get a jolt of reality- a reminder that there is a heck of a lot more in God's creation that we will be experiencing.