The Black Squirrel

On vacation this week, my husband and I made it a goal to run each day. The weather cooperated beautifully and thanks to family, we were both able to make our goal. It was invigorating. We vacation to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, a beautiful and remote area just south west of Lake Superior.

Late in the week as I came around the last turn, I caught a glimpse of a black squirrel as it came out close to the road and then darted back into the forest. What a neat sight! I don’t ever remember seeing a black squirrel. As this vacation is all about noticing nature, I was excited to share my sighting with everyone back at the cabin. My husband said he and my brother had also seen it on their runs earlier in the week, and that it had sparked a conversation with my dad about how rare the black squirrel is. My dad thought maybe they had seen a skunk and had mistaken it for a black squirrel. They didn’t think so as there was no white stripe. It had been left at that, and everyone had moved on.

Afterward though, I started thinking about this rare animal and how quickly it was decided that instead of seeing something rare, we must have been mistaken.

As we have been reading the daily Mass readings for the past few weeks, we have been working our way through the story of Moses leading God’s people out of Egypt and into the desert. God provided many signs for His people. Undeniable signs. When I read about them, sometimes I wonder why we don’t have signs like that nowadays.

The thing is, who says we don’t? Just like that cute little black squirrel, maybe we need to be more open to seeing God’s signs and works in our everyday life. Maybe we are too busy rationalizing away our God moments. We need to keep our eyes and hearts open to the possibility. I think God’s signs and works are everywhere when we are willing to see and accept them.

I don’t want to rationalize away the common or the rare “God-moments” in my life. What “God moment” have you had recently?

By the way, on our way out of the woods for the last time this morning, I saw that little black squirrel one more time. Definitely a little black squirrel and NOT a skunk, thank-you-very-much! How exciting that I got to see and show my children this beautiful creature!  I will be keeping my eyes and heart more open for all the “little black squirrels” God sends my way!

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