During Thanksgiving break, I took my family to the big island of Hawaii. We usually go somewhere together in the summer, but that didn’t work this year because both children had summer jobs they needed to stay in town for. So we postponed the trip to November.
One of our first stops was the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Don’t miss it if you go to the island!
As usual, spiritual lessons were easy to find everywhere.
The ranger at the visitor’s station caught my attention right off when he was talking about volcanic eruptions, lava flows and the history of earthquakes in the park.
A visitor asked him if he ever worried about getting caught in a lava flow by a surprise volcanic eruption. He told us that the park’s detection methods were so advanced and prolific, that their equipment could register the temblors preceding eruptions to give them adequate warning. So there was no need to worry.
I immediately embraced his metaphor of “…early warning systems for impending eruptions…”
Wouldn’t that be nice to have in everyday life?
Wouldn’t you like to know ahead of time when someone is going to get mad at you? Wouldn’t you like to know ahead of time when your spouse tells you he or she doesn’t love you anymore, or your children are failing in school, or your neighbor is about to sue you? Wouldn’t it be nice to foresee any impending trouble or danger before it happens so you can take action to prevent hurt or harm?
You can! Jesus Christ taught us how. Jesus did it all the time.
When about to be pushed over the edge of the cliff by an angry mob, Jesus saw that trouble was brewing. He discreetly and quietly left without anyone noticing. When his disciples wanted him to go into Jerusalem and proclaim God’s glory, he told them his time had not yet come. He stayed away. He could see ahead and he acted according to what purpose he wanted to see worked out.
He told his followers to “Watch!” In Science, this means to watch for the good, to behold God’s presence at all times.
In everyday experience, when you watch for God’s presence, any type of impending danger about to encroach on your goodness becomes apparent. There are always warning signs that the wise and attentive notice.
Later in the trip, we saw the seismographs monitoring local volcanoes. They were “tuned-in” to the conditions of the ground around the calderas. Any deviation from calm, any abnormal movement of the ground, was registered on the rotating paper scrolls for all to see.
And this is the way our thinking should be. Any deviation from pure harmony and love in our mental atmosphere should not be ignored. It is a “temblor,” of sorts, perhaps an “earthquake,” about to happen that needs to be noted and dealt with before a full-blown heated eruption occurs.
For instance, if our children are easily irritated or bothered without justifiable cause, those signs could be “temblors” of eruptions to come. Seething trouble can be headed off ahead of time with understanding and love.
If our spouse is disgruntled, that could be a “temblor,” or predictor of an eruption to come if not dissolved with love and compassion promptly.
Don’t ignore the temblors! They can be dealt with metaphysically, and when successfully handled, avert unwanted and unpleasant surprises in the future.
Here are a couple of pictures of steam spewing from a huge lava pool that can be seen from the Jaggar Museum. The first picture is during the day and looks like steam only. But it is filled with fire that can be seen once nightfall descends. A very impressive sight at sunset.
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| Halema’uma’u in the Kilauea Caldera during the day |
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| Halema’uma’u at night |
I love that you bring home lessons that you freely share with readers. It’s like we get a tour of Hawaii and a lecture on Christian Science rolled into one short class — at no charge! How rich we are, especially when we heed the lessons you teach.
I’d never heard of a “temblor” but found it here, for other readers who may be scratching their heads:
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/tremblor.html
Maybe just as you rightly dropped the “r” in that word, you’ll also drop the “ly” in another of your words. I’ll let you hunt for it yourself. Hint: it starts with the letter “a”! 🙂
Thanks for the helpful message, which I totally take to heart.
Wonderful message and I’ve made notes! It’s so easy to ignore “warning signs”…thanks so much for sharing these thoughts along with your travelogue!
Aha, the “ly” is gone now — for good! A true follower of Jesus, you are, heeding even the littlest warnings as you do! 🙂
May I be and do the same.
(From your friend Anonymous #1)