Day by Day the 'MillieWay' (by Peter Black)

A tiny cottage nestles in the woods on a country road, with little more than the basic services of electricity and a land phone. The lady of the house pretty much takes care of herself and day-to-day chores with a little help from her son, who calls by from time to time to ensure she is OK.

Not Millie's Cottage
Courtesy: Google free

Not only is her home tiny, she’s tiny, too. Obviously frail, she weighs in at well under one hundred pounds. The actual number doesn’t even match her age – ninety-eight! Suggestions that she should move into town don’t receive much of a hearing from her. And her friends’ statements of concern that, “it’s so lonely and remote out here,” don’t gain any traction at all.
  

Millie reminds me that physical frailty doesn’t necessarily equate to either weakness of character or of spirit. This tiny titan has character and spirit in abundance. Her stalwart independence was developed throughout her life’s journey, meeting challenges and disappointments, bereavements and losses along the way.

Not Millie: IStock Photo

However, her independence represents only one side:

~ She lives alone, but is not lonely.

~ She is frail and weak, yet she is strong.

~ Her means are modest, yet she abounds in the richness of contentment.

Here’s the other side: Many decades ago Millie committed her life to the Lord Jesus. He is to her a close and constant companion.

Importantly, she didn’t get stuck on the periphery of the Christian life, but journeyed along that pathway, exercising dependence on God’s grace, growing in faith and in her relationship with the Lord. Reading the biblical scriptures and meditating on their implications and significance for her life, while keeping daily prayer appointments with God and serving others in His name – these have given her sustaining power.

This indomitable soul has faced her todays with gratitude and grace, despite whatever her yesterdays might have brought. And now Millie continues facing her tomorrows in readiness of spirit. She’s homeward bound to be with Jesus, her Lord and Saviour, while continuing house-bound in her tiny cottage in the woods, journeying on into this—another New Year, with hope and peace, joy and love. . . . And contentment.

Contentment – what a great quality!

Hopes, dreams, aspirations and ambitions, and even discontentment might be OK, if well-placed and well-focused; they can occupy an appropriate, beneficial place in our lives.

Of course, unless these desires and motivations are honourable and others-oriented and we go about fulfilling them by honourable means, such urges may consume us with a soul-destroying selfish obsession. Unchecked, they can leave a trail of ruined lives, broken relationships and families, violence and crime and murder, and even become amplified as feuding communities and countries at war.

But this isn’t so with folks like Millie and friends of hers I’ve come to know. Regardless of whether people are financially poor or wealthy, they can be either intensely selfish and discontented, or selfless and truly contented.

Let US journey on into the New Year, balancing contentment and ambition the “Millie way.” It was Apostle Paul’s way, too – content and ambitious at the same time. He says:

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 1:6-8 NIV). 

And, “. . . one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV).

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Peter A. Black lives in Southwestern Ontario. He writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column, P-Pep! and is author of Raise Your Gaze ... Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart, and Parables from the Pond.
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‘Ruralites’ and the Resilience Factor (Peter Black)

The characteristic known as resilience involves our lives numerous times on any given day. From the time we cuddle a sponge-filled toy as an infant in the cradle, we experience resilience. As a toddler in the bath, under the watchful eye of our mom or dad, our cute rubber Ducky floats within our grasp.

We reach out and grab him. When we squeeze him, Ducky squeaks, so we let out a squeal of delight. When we release our grip he squeaks again and the impression in the rubbery material disappears. Among other factors pertaining to the physical properties that enabled our rubber Ducky to spring back to its original shape is that of resilience. This quality is also at work in a bouncing ball. 

Courtesy of Pikmin.wikia.com

Our lives and the physical properties of items we depend on every day are intermingled. From the springs in our bed to the suspension springs in our car, from the six strings in our kid’s guitar to the two-hundred and ten or so in grandma’s piano, and from the hardwood floor in our living room to the trampoline in the neighbour’s backyard, resilience is working for us.

 This is true even in the properties of our skin and bones. When bones lose a degree of this property, they become brittle and more subject to fracturing. Resiliency is related to elasticity, and once aging skin loses those properties it sags, unable to spring back and shrink to its former shape. I know, for I have a lot of sag, myself.

Simply put, resilience is the ability to spring back or return after stretching and compression or bending, and to resume a former size and shape.

Resilience—that’s what I’ve witnessed again and again over the years in rural people and farming folk. Resilient people. Generally the people of the communities served by the newspaper for which I wrote the original version of this article are to be commended on their willingness and ability to help one another in times of difficulty. They’ve risen again and again to help fellow citizens arise from the ashes of broken dreams, bereavement and deep, heart-rending loss. They’ve helped one another to come back and recover from those situations. I’ve little doubt that this would be multiplied hundreds-of-thousands of times across the country.

Fair Use: Courtesy of Pr. Shop

Two-thirds of my pastoral service years were spent in small town and village communities in Ontario. I learned that people who live close to the earth and nature, as rural dwellers do—especially those who have a farming background, often develop a capacity for resilience. Their experience, in facing the challenges of weather and nature and the financial uncertainties inherent in the agricultural life, builds into them a paradoxical combination of the following characteristics:

First, independence (they learn multiple skills and can do a lot for themselves).
Second,  dependence (they depend on the weather and various factors in nature that are beyond their control, and they often depend on and teach their family members to pull their weight, for the good of all).
And third, interdependence (such as when their neighbour needs a helping hand to complete planting in spring or to get crops off the fields before bad weather). They provide help, if at all possible, knowing that the time may come when they’ll depend on their neighbour’s help.

Biblical faith holds firm in many ‘ruralite’ hearts, despite numerous challenges, for their fundamental dependence is placed in Creator God. Experience and perseverance lead to hopeful optimism: “This harvest wasn’t great, but we got one, thank God. Next year may be better.”

Resilience: Springing and bouncing back, and not staying bent out of shape—despite the hard knocks of life.

Resilience: “. . . we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5 NIV).

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Peter’s new book, “Raise Your Gaze . . . Musings of a Grateful Heart,” was released in August, 2014. 52 Adapted newspaper column articles and a sprinkling of Words to Bless.

Available from: Angel Hope Publishing (Coming soon: An ebook version and availability at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com )

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 Peter A. Black's first book: “Parables from the Pond” – a children's / family book (mildly educational, inspirational in orientation, character reinforcing). Finalist – Word Alive Press. ISBN: 1897373-21-X. The book has found a place in various settings with a readership ranging from kids to senior adults.

His inspirational column, P-Pep! appears weekly in The Guide-Advocate (of Southwestern Ontario). His articles have appeared in 50 Plus Contact and testimony, and several newspapers in Ontario.
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