Being surrounded brings up images of police encircling a hostage situation or a group of soldiers trapped by the enemy. Though battles can certainly surround us, so can blessings. In this issue of Mystery’s Voice I explore what it means to feel surrounded by battles and encourage better vision of the blessings that also surround us.
My Mysterious Mind
It feels like I am surrounded by battles on multiple fronts without any escape route. Physically, I’m fighting an upper respiratory battle with coughing and fatigue. Emotionally, I’m saddened by our dog, Ollie’s, struggle each day after the toll of a second surgery only eight days after the first. I’m also disappointed in not going to visit family for Thanksgiving because of the demands of Ollie’s recovery. I am not willing to leave my husband to carry the burden alone, nor am I healthy enough to travel on my own. I’ve been waiting for months for this trip to see two of our grandsons. It’s heart-breaking not to go.
Professionally, I’m worn out, having retooled for new work for the same employer, switching units within the university to escape another retooling. Spiritually, I’m fighting discouragement. Intellectually I’m sorting through some problems for which I am not finding acceptable solutions. All of this is on a backdrop of depletion.
Battles within. Battles all around. Depleted reserves. Exhausted. Discouraged. Sad. Surrounded.
I have clung to the hope of a better season to follow the current one. I’ve had a sense that summer is coming though it feels like winter. It’s definitely another round of winter. Bone-chilling winds of discouragement cut through me. Heart-crushing attacks of disappointment relentlessly strike.
And yet I hope for “summer.” I hope for good to come from these storms. I trust in the delivery of a victory over discouragement and disappointment. Joy can spring forth from the soil of despair. Such victory when battles are thick all-around and deep within is possible. In my core I believe this. I can’t bring these victories. I can’t fix Ollie. I can’t compel solutions when fighting on multiple fronts. I am weak and helpless and have no strength for battle. I surrender. Here is my little white flag flying weakly.
Message of Mystery Acres
Being in the forest is comforting, surrounded by trees at every side, rocks, grasses, and flowers below, and the vast pure sky above. Walking through the forest, I am surrounded by more trees than I can count; I walk through more plants than I can identify; I step on more rocks than I can collect and examine. Looking up by day there are trees towering all around with the big screen of sky beyond. At night, the stars appear in numbers more abundant than I can imagine counting.
I feel protected in the forest. Strong winds are diverted and diffused. Rains are captured by towering limbs. Intense heat is shielded by shade-offering leaves. Troubles are stopped at the forest’s edge. Taking my cell phone with me, putting it in airplane mode, and I am “off the grid” in a mysterious place surrounded by acres of nature’s comforter.
The message of Mystery Acres is a message of being surrounded in wonderful ways. To step into the woods is to move into the abundance of protection and blessing. There may be birds singing cheerfully or soaring majestically. Even tiny hummingbirds find their way deep into the woods in search of nectar, or my feeders. Searching for empty goals elsewhere, here I am greeted by the incredible beauty of the occasional butterfly. Mysteriously the never-enough-ness of anywhere and anything else becomes the ever-so-much-ness of the forest.
When not in the forest, I strive to take that sense of being surrounded by protection and blessings back with me into the concrete and asphalt jungles we call civilization. The sense of being surrounded in this wondrous way is still possible, it just requires greater discipline than just being in the forest. That is the message of Mystery Acres. Blessings and protections surround us, even when we cannot see them easily.
The picture in this issue is of Ollie at Mystery Acres, his favorite place. He loved to just sit and take in the wonder of his surroundings. When it was time to go we had to lift him into the truck as he would insist on taking just one more walk. He would pull on his leash away from the truck as if to ask why we would ever want to leave this amazing place.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
“The Angel of God surrounds those who trust Him and He delivers them.” (See Psalm 34: 7)
When battles are all around us, the angel host have us surrounded. The original translation used “camps around” in place of the word “surrounds.” The Hebrew word had a military meaning, with tents pitched in a circle around someone. This imagery provides a picture of protection against any enemies, no matter which direction they approach. In the middle is the person who trusts God.
This reminds me of the pioneers who circled their wagons and fought outward when threatened. But the picture the Psalmist uses doesn’t involve fighting for oneself. The helpless in need of protection are placed in the middle of the circle of wagons. The defense is mounted for the weak, who entrust the battle to their protectors.
During times of intense difficulty, when the battle is raging all around, it helps to picture the promise of this verse. In the middle of a circle of tents, full of protective angels, is the person under attack. This encampment is a powerful buffer through which enemies cannot penetrate. Can I sit calmly in the center of that protective circle, trusting the battle to the mighty host? If so, the psalmist promises my deliverance.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice calls to us during times we are under attack and reminds us to trust the battle to the One who can bring deliverance. The battles may be surrounding us, but the mighty host are camping in a circle around us. Thus, the layer of blessing is closer at hand than the threat of battle.
Living in Mystery
I surrendered Ollie on Tuesday night. I waved the white flag as I signed the authorization to euthanize him. He wanted to keep fighting. I wanted to keep fighting. But there was no victory ahead for him, only suffering and death. His body had failed him in his fight. His miracle had reached its expiration date. He had gotten better, just like I asked him to, but he couldn’t heal inside.
The vet who did his second surgery cried with us during his final minutes as she gently delivered him from his pointless fight. Another vet who had cared for him during his last night at the hospital stepped into the room to offer her comfort to us. I started to reach out to shake her hand to thank her, and then just hugged her instead. Two strangers, connected only by one night with a dog, cried in a shared embrace.
Surrounded. The battle was lost but we were not defeated. Instead we were surrounded by those who had fought with us, connected in battle and in defeat. Ollie was a special dog with an old soul and a big heart, a heart big enough to draw in strangers until the very end.
Sometimes victories look like defeat. Sometimes defeat can bring victory.
My husband and I were able to drive on Thanksgiving to be with our daughter and her family, including those two grandsons I had been missing so desperately. Ollie’s death, though a defeat, arrived in time for the victory of saving time for us to make the trip. This retreat into the world of little boys brings energy to my depleted core. Ollie’s defeat brought an escape route from the encircling enemy. The battles will still be waiting when I return, hopefully with renewed resources.
Being surrounded by battles and by blessings. Life is a mysterious mixture of both. To live in this mystery is to realize the blessings even when all we see are the battles. Yes, we are surrounded by attacks on multiple fronts, but we are also surrounded by the love of friends and strangers. Invisible to us, the angels of heaven are camping around us when we surrender the battle. And, in surrendering when we are surrounded, there is victory, even in defeat.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, the battle has been fierce lately. As I ponder the depletion of my own resources to fight, help me to realize the protection of Your mighty host camping all around. Also help me to see that I am surrounded in every direction with the wonders of nature and the love of many people. Thank You for surrounding me. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. The Psalms are especially helpful for those in the midst of battles.
You can find previous posts of The Adventure of Reflection at ARCHIVE. You can find the first 64 issues in an organized compilation at Reflective Adventures: Volume One.
You can email me at: drcjmacgregor@outlook.com or through the Substack App. I love to hear from you!
Losing a beloved pet is so hard. You did all you could. My heart goes out to you. Prayers for comfort.