Rodents: not all are ugly like mice and rats. There are rabbits, hamsters, squirrels, bats, etc. Point is I am not fond of any of these, though I like to watch some at a distance and enjoy their playfulness. Each have their roll in creation, cleaning up dead things, catching insects, clearing decay, so they have their place in the earth, but most I would not want in my house.

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China or the shine of my SparkJourney? Well, it is the same with my thought life and the pursuits they illicit. In keeping with the thought of discerning ratty thoughts that lead to ratty actions, I have discovered that I need to discern those that look cute and fuzzy and worthy of keeping from those truly good and right pursuits.

Rodents, even the cute, fuzzy ones, can be carriers of disease and destructive to stability. Squirrels like to get into attics and make big, gaping holes, opening up gaps in the insulation and letting the outside weather in, and the inside out. Rabbits get into our gardens and eat up all the produce. And, well, we have most all heard the saying about bats in the belfry.

I sometimes feel like I have bats in my belfry: so scattered, often frazzeled, so I am in a season of evaluating my thoughts and preoccupations, looking for rodents that are sapping energy needed elsewhere, or robbing of productivity in life. PAPAMIKIE in his blog, Balancing Life and Death, says “One has to balance the time available and the many things that have to be done.” ( www.sparkpeople.com/mypa
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al.asp?blog_id=5292012 )

Seasons of life change the dynamics of living and require adjustments in where we put our energy and how we use our time. So I have to figure out what seemingly attractive pursuits are rodents in this season of my life, and clear the attic of destructive, disruptive thoughts and the actions they produce. I also have to realize that some warm and fuzzy thoughts are robbing of produce by leading to pursuits that are not the best.

Where, in the garden of my life, are rodent-thoughts and pursuits eating up the good fruits of my labors? And what diseases have come to infect and deaden my SparkJourney and life as a whole? These are some of the questions I am using as a plumbline for thoughts and actions, as I seek to discern the still more excellent way before me.

Rodents—some ugly and obnoxious, others cute and fuzzy, but all can be a destructive force. Thus can be the thoughts and pursuits of life if we are not watchful.