Stunned Rabbit

Evansing – Heart of the Irish Kingdom

Introduction
Recently as I sat in my car, I noticed a rabbit running across the road and make it almost across when it stopped. It then turned around and went back from where it had come just as a car came and narrowly missed hitting it. The rabbit, after returning to where it had started, turned around and crossed the road again. For some moments it ran around in a zigzag way, not making any progress in any particular direction.

Stunned Rabbit
I pondered what I witnessed. I thought how many times we as people live life in a state of frenzied activity, moving here and there in a constant state of fear with no clear sense of direction. As long as we stay busy, we feel comforted by the motion. We are so conditioned by this state we aren’t even aware of the fear moving us. We ask someone how they are doing, and they say busy as though that is a meaningful answer to such a question. Fear distorts one’s thinking about self and life. It blocks the ability to evaluate what truly matters. We must stop and think of what is important in our life, for even the seeming insignificant choices can affect the rest of our life.
Edwin in Evansing had to deal with such a situation. He had started out on a journey to a new life when he discovered an enemy force invading their kingdom. Edwin ran to the closest village to warn them of the danger. At first the chieftain responded well, but first he wanted scouts to discover the location of the enemy. They came back with the report of the invaders heading away from them toward another village. Edwin told the chieftain they needed to help the other villagers. The chieftain did not want to, for he didn’t want to endanger his village. Fear and indifference to others blocked his ability to make the right choice. The chieftain and his people got angry with Edwin when he persisted in asking them to help. So Edwin left.
Now he needed to decide his next move. Should he just keep merrily on his way and forget about the people in the path of the invaders? Should he respond like the chieftain who exercised action and then ended up doing nothing? In both cases they could feel good about demonstrating motion and busyness. However, Edwin stopped to consider the best choice in this circumstance.
He could not in good conscience abandon the people in the path of the marauding army. Edwin pursued the invaders and found a vantage point where he kept hidden. He noticed the enemy soldiers appeared very confident. This piqued his confidence. He overheard them mention they had with them a well known and feared Druid priest. His magical power gave them assurance they would win. Edwin decided he could do something about that. As he waited, he saw the one they referred to. He put an arrow in his bow and drew it back. He released it right into the priest’s heart, who dropped dead. The troops stopped and howled in dismay. They began pursuing in the direction from where they believed the arrow had been shot. The chase began. As it got desperate for Edwin, he experienced a most unusual miraculous rescue.
While leaving the area he noticed the invading force moving down the road to the villagers who had refused to help their countrymen. They would now experience the fruit of their indifference. They had not considered the consequences of their choice. 
Edwin and the recalcitrant chieftain both had decided affecting the rest of their lives. Edwin’s led to a great opportunity and a brand-new life. The chieftain’s choice resulted in the very thing he wanted to avoid, the destruction of his village.

​Conclusion
Making right choices in life requires a sense of direction. Where do we want to go? Where do we want to end up? Have we stopped to consider what keeps us going? Have we identified fears in our life? How are they affecting us? Do they make us feel like we need to keep in motion even when no clear sense of where it takes us? It is important to know why we do what we do. No one intentionally lives life to end up in a bad place.
Set aside time to sit and ponder where you are going and whether you would like it when you arrive. Consider whether your activity is moving you forward or are you zigzagging here and there with no genuine progress.
 
 

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