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Monday, 11 June 2012

Empty Udder


OK, so I really am living in the heart of the countryside, and every morning I walk past fields which sometimes are full of cows.

A new herd grazed in one of the fields this morning. Some looked at me curiously as they chewed their cud. Others charged at Dusty, who charged back at them from the safety of our side of the fence. 

One cow stared at me  ‘glakitly’ (Scottish for vacantly) as her calf pushed and prodded in vain on an empty udder. Or at least it looked pretty shrunken to me. 

His mother didn’t seem to notice, nor even care. 

It made me think of the way we all – metaphorically speaking – feed on one another. Someone I know refuses to spend time with people who have what she calls ‘negative energy’ because she feels it sucks life out of her. Bad vibes, we might have called it in the ‘60s. 

We all need to feed our souls, so that we have something positive for others to glean from us. For me as a Christian, that means spending time in God’s presence and being filled with his Holy Spirit so that I can overflow with his goodness when I’m out and about, naturally and without effort or contrivance. For others it may mean reading poetry or verse, or spending time in nature or in music. 

None of us wants to be caught staring glakitly as others try in vain to gain some nourishment from us. I want to be a source of refreshment, not a black hole of discouragement. Don’t you?

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