Charlotte's Web

Today I found myself resonating with a spider. I was walking back home from my mechanic and noticed a very large spider web. What amazed me was it was cleverly attached to a pole in a way that didn't impede human passage. It was woven above human height so that both could coincide. The spider chose to be an ally with the human element that most definitely in the past was a problem.

The spider chose to rise above and innovate, coexist in harmony. As I observed this, I saw yet another opportunity for learning a new perspective on my approach to resolving "problems." How could I also rise above the human spawned problems in my life? How can I show up as an ally or a friend?

The day before I had attended a Quaker Peace & Social Concerns Committe meeting in New York City. To save money, as financially life was tight, that morning I parked my car on the street. I had a lovely discussion and met some really amazing kindhearted people who I resonated with. Afterwards, I strolled through Morningside Park and observed the history of activism displayed in the area. I admired nature, predominantly the beautiful willow tree that cascaded over the pond. I observed the community coinciding...playing, barbecuing, reading, drawing, walking and just being.

Despite that beautiful experience of a joyous day, when I returned to my vehicle, I found that someone had stolen my catalytic converter. I panicked, but quickly, within my means, I resolved my problem. I began to remedy the burden someone else had imposed on me for whatever cause it may have been. Part of me questioned why this was happening to me when I was spreading so much love and kindness, so many good intentions. And then my towing driver said to me, "God does everything right. Maybe if you drove home today you would have been in an accident, but here you are, okay."

I held back tears, he was right. As much as I had no idea how I was going to rise above this, I too was called to come up with new ideas to handle this new problem in my life. I was being called to put my own thoughts and beliefs into action. Now what?

Maybe sometimes in simple things like what this spider chose to do in silence, we show others how we can coincide. We can coexist in harmony. We can rise above the problems. We can sustain self-preservation without harming others.