Coping Mechanisms

Hello, friends.

In troubled times, I have a small collection of coping mechanisms.

1- Binge-watching shows on Hulu/Netflix. For reference, ask me any question about The Flash. (It's possible that I've watched all four seasons in the last month or so.)

2- Ranting over the phone to various people in other states. I don't know how many long, nonsensical calls I've had with people like Lindsey and my parents. All I know is, it's a lot.

3- Eating ice cream. Half-Baked Ben & Jerry's, man. It's the way to go. Speaking of which, I'm out of ice cream...

4- Re-reading my favorite books. Anything by Tamora Pierce is always on the list, but a few others usually end up on my kitchen table too: "Hope Was Here" by Joan Bauer, "Shadow Spinner" by Susan Fletcher, and "The Horse and His Boy" by C. S. Lewis.

Tonight, after exhausting all episodes involving the Scarlet Speedster, talking to Lindsey the past several nights, and running out of ice cream, I've been immersing myself in the life of Shasta (the Boy in the aforementioned Lewis tale). So far, he's run away from home thanks to Bree the horse and met up with new friends Aravis and Hwin.  He didn't exactly intend to meet up with them - they were forced together when lions started chasing after them.

Lions are a recurring theme in "The Horse and His Boy," much to Shasta's chagrin. My favorite part of the book, and the reason that I often return to it, is this conversation near the end.

He told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all the dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had something to eat.  

"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.  

"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.  

"There was only one lion," said the Voice.  

"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and--" 

"There was only one: but he was swift of foot." 

"How do you know?"

"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

Shasta had every reason to complain. His life had been nothing but one hardship after another. He tried to do the right thing and failed in those attempts all the time, and even when he didn't, he ended up in worse predicaments than before. But this exchange revealed to him that he was never alone, and through all those trials he faced - and lions he ran from - he was guided and protected by The Lion, Aslan.

All of us have troubles every now and again. Most of us have troubles more often than that. But Shasta's encounter with Aslan is reminiscent of all the encounters I've had with God in which He gently reminds me that I'm not alone or forgotten or abandoned. He's here, even and especially when I struggle to see Him. "I do not call you unfortunate," Aslan told Shasta, because he wasn't. He was blessed to have Aslan in his life in a very real and present way. We're blessed in that same way. God is in our lives in very real, present ways - ways we would never expect and may never know until we get to the heavenly gates. But we can be sure that He's there, guiding, protecting, loving us through it all.

I left out one coping mechanism earlier:

5- Writing blog posts for other people to read, but really for myself on my next rainy day.

Until next time, this is Iowa Girl Meets World, signing off.