The Turtle and the Weeds

One family gathering afternoon as we sat on our back porch, our fifteen year old grandson sat his usually quiet, contemplating self next to me on the wicker chair, as I mine. In an attempt to engage him in conversation, I asked him how his pet turtle was doing. 

He calmly and methodically explained to me that his pet, an African Sideneck turtle, gets it's name because it's neck is so long that it is unable to retract completely into it's shell. In fact, he went on, this is the only type of turtle that will thrive when you remove if from the wild at any time of it's life to make it a pet.

However, you cannot do the same with other wild turtles that have lived it's whole life in the weeds, the mud, the ditch, the dirty water and just scoop it up and place it into a container with clean water and try to feed it as a pet; here's this human being looking over him and it just freezes, goes into shock and will simply starve to death. 

If since birth, we have been raised to believe everything must be done a certain way to survive, to function, to thrive, to trust the powers that be around us - that everything we were taught about our history was the absolute truth, that what they were feeding us was necessary for the good of everyone, that we could trust them, no need to question anything because they're all trustworthy, right. It's what's best for you and everyone else around you, so you continue to do the same with your kids, and they do the same with their kids, and on and on...

But you happen to be one of those Sidenecks, with a neck that's too long to retract into it's shell; you see more, hear more, you become curious, you wanna know about the streams with all of that beautiful clean water, the flowers and beautiful trees and plants all around. You question everything and settle for nothing until you know the truth, no longer content with the weeds and bugs you've been fed all of your life. 

You just didn't know!

So of course, you want others to see and hear what you've discovered, why not? You want others to enjoy life abundantly, right? If you love them? You don't want to see them settling for all that muck - Right?!

But more often than not, most respond just like those turtles that are so used to the weeds and the ditch...

Undeterred, you continue trying to find another Sideneck, because you know they're somewhere out there, someone somewhere will want to see and hear about all of that gloriously abundant life and join you.

Research, study, check things out, question, question, question until you have the correct information. 

Be a SIDENECK ~ Our gloriously abundant life and loved ones depend on it!