As we know,
Life can bring so many demands.
So let's really take advantage of this chance to breathe.
To pull that deep inhale into our bodies.
To let it go.
One more time,
Pull the breath deep into your body.
And now let everything go.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
And this one is a tiny bit salty.
It occurred to me recently that there is no spiritual duct tape.
I was telling my daughter this insight and she was disappointed.
She thought I was going to say,
There is no spiritual duct.
And she couldn't wait to see where I was going to go with that.
While it might be interesting to explore the idea that there is no spiritual duct,
I think for our purposes it's best to stick with the idea that there is no spiritual duct tape.
What I mean by this can be explained through a TV show that was on in the mid-1980s here in the United States.
It was called MacGyver.
MacGyver was a kind of undercover genius who hated guns and could solve almost any problem with chewing gum and duct tape.
In the midst of any life threatening or challenging situation,
All MacGyver had to do was slap some duct tape on it and he saved the day.
Now,
The more I think about it,
The more I realize,
Okay,
Actually there might be spiritual duct tape.
And in the midst of our own acute situations,
It might be just what we need.
When things are bad,
Really,
Really bad,
Sometimes we have to do whatever it takes to survive.
Head down and chin up,
As my marine friend likes to say.
And we can use our good old friend MacGyver to help us imagine what this might look like.
So,
Picture MacGyver flying a crop duster and some evil dude is chasing him in another airplane,
All while shooting at our hero.
One of the bullets pierces the shell of MacGyver's plane and hits the fuel line.
Fuel is spraying out everywhere.
The plane is about to crash.
What does MacGyver do?
He slaps some duct tape on there so he can land the plane and walk away from the crash because that's what he does.
Yay,
MacGyver,
You are dreamy.
While MacGyver uses duct tape to save the day,
What we need to keep in mind is that the duct tape and chewing gum were temporary fixes.
They were not meant to last in the long run.
Let me put it this way.
If your plane were crashing because the fuel line had been hit and duct tape would help you land,
Would you use it?
You bet your ass you would.
But would you get back on that plane and take it up again and again and again?
Hell no.
And yet when we are hurt or suffering,
When we've slapped some duct tape on our lives to make it through and then we get through,
How often do we leave that quick fix solution in place?
How long do we ignore the wounds?
How many of us fly around our lives with the damage unfixed and unattended to?
What we never saw in the MacGyver episodes was a crew of mechanics pulling the plane into a hangar,
Removing the wounded shell,
Putting in a brand new fuel line,
In other words,
A sure flowing source of energy,
And securing strong and whole pieces back onto the body.
We never see that because that takes time and effort,
Care and attention,
And that doesn't make for good drama.
But it does make for better flying.
I am sure you have your wounds.
God knows I do.
It can be easy to quick fix them and move on with our lives.
But think about the duct tape on the fuel line.
It's really up to you to get back on that MacGyvered plane and hurdle yourself up into the air,
Or to pull the plane into the hangar,
To fix the damage mindfully,
Carefully,
And then get back out there and soar.
Namaste.
