Disoriented

I don’t recall exactly where I was driving to recently, but I heard a story on the radio about baby sea turtles in Florida.  Apparently, when baby sea turtles have been hatching in recent years, they get disoriented by the lights from the hotels and other businesses.  Thinking that these are the moonlight over the ocean, the baby turtles walk AWAY from the sea and have been dying on land in higher numbers.

The turtles get disoriented and walk away from their source of life.

Sounds all too familiar.

Recently I had the opportunity to preach on today’s reading from Luke 19 about Zacchaeus.  While there are many layers and reflections one can make on this passage, one that I’d focus on today is Zacchaeus’ climbing of the sycamore tree to get a better view of Jesus. And, coincidentally, for Jesus to get a better view of him.

Zacchaeus was trying to reorient himself in the midst of things so that he could get a different perspective. He was curious and probably wanted some kind of change from business-as-usual. Maybe he felt some dis-ease with his life. Perhaps he needed some uplift or encouragement. Maybe he’d grown disillusioned or disappointed with what life had to offer. Whatever the case, he tried to reposition himself towards something that might offer real life.

I think about the need for all of us to get some perspective so that we can see and be seen more clearly.  I think about the need for us to discern directionality so that we move towards our sources of life and not away from them.

As you already know, we’re on the cusp of coming into the “holiday season” in our culture. While there is much I value and love about these days, there is also much that I find distracting and disorienting.

Perhaps it is good for us to keep getting some perspective on things.

Maybe we spend a little more time in nature if we can and more closely align ourselves with those rhythms.

Maybe we seek a little more time in quiet or contemplation.

Maybe we listen to our bodies more closely and try to discern what we truly feel or need.

Maybe we focus more on relationships and paying attention to where we are in the moment and who we are with.

Like Zacchaeus, we might all do well to ‘climb higher’ to get above the fray so that we, like the turtles, do not get disoriented and mistakenly move away from what really gives us life and sustains us.