Of Dead Squirrels

“But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.” Jude 1: 10

I killed a squirrel today.

I knew it was only a matter of time. For days the little things have been darting in and around my car every time I drive to work. And I always try my best to swerve or slow down to avoid them. But today I was on a busy road and I saw him and there was nothing I could do and…BAM! That was that. But I couldn’t help but thinking all day about that squirrel. Not as if he were human and I was grieving. But I was thinking about the similarities between that squirrel and so many people I see today.

Why are there so many squirrels running around right now? Well, they are trying to feverishly collect and store as many acorns, nuts and grain possible before the cold and snow of winter arrive and there is no more food to be found. They are working so hard to amass as much as possible, running here and there, always working, always searching, never slowing down. Willing, in their irrationality, to even traverse roads and compete with cars and trucks in a vain attempt to find new sources of food. And yet, where does it lead for so many of them?

Sound familiar?

We work so hard to be popular, to fit in, to make the team, to get good grades, to impress people, to win the awards, to please others, to be liked, to be noticed, to be loved…and what do we have to show for it? And yet how much time and energy do we spend searching for righteousness? How much time spent in diving deeper into the heart of our Lord? How much effort do we give to the daily grind of personal prayer and reading the Scriptures?

Ultimately it comes down to this: do we spend more time preparing for the things of this world, or for the next? It doesn’t seem to make much sense to me to put so much effort into the things of this world and not prepare for what comes next. I think at the end, many people are going to find that their lives were not much different than a squirrel’s. And that’s pretty sad.

Dear Jesus, help me to slow down today and take stock of my life. Give me the grace to prioritize and to have eternal vision. Amen.