just another day in paradise...

we make light of the comment, "just another day in paradise...", but to some and definitely to one man other than rabboni on the cross, the thought of paradise holds hope. some days, i don't feel much hope, others it seems as though i am saturated with hope. hope drowns out anxiety. something that i have been feeling a lot of this year and especially now.we have a deck that sits about ten feet off the ground. because it does, we see animal life in our little corner of paradise in a different perspective than we have ever experienced. the birds, the butterflies, the squirrels notice it but since it exists more in their realm they accept it or ignore it. so we become a viewing audience rather than uninvited guests. as i watch the squirrels scamper across the deck, collecting and gnawing acorns and hickory nuts, they seem to have no cares, no worries, no concerns. in fact, if anything, they always epitomize hope. they come to the deck every morning, sunshine, rain, hot or cold to look for nuts that might have fallen or to bring their own picnic meal. it is as though they have faith that something will be there and if not, then they will bring it. it is as though they hope even without promise, but do not despair when nothing is provided.as i watch them, it begins to dawn on me, that hope is not a childish reaction, rather it is a consequence of faith. not necessarily faith that there are nuts, but faith that one can go on whether nuts are there or not. faith that in spite of expectation, that promise still exists. that promises are never broken, nor unfulfilled, but that they are sometimes on a different schedule than our expectations. in fact, promises based on expectation, is not a promise, but a conditional event. so as i reflect on this, i wonder what type of "promises" i have been living for? perhaps i need to go and scamper on a deck somewhere and clear my mind, and expect nothing more than what i can hope for.