Surviving the "Catastrophic Molt"

Anyone who knows me has learned that I simply adore penguins.  This all came about (to make a long story short) when my friend and colleague told me about SeaWorld San Diego’s penguin cam.  We began checking the cam at lunch, I shared it with my students when they were feeling stressed, and another of my students caught the penguin love so strong that she is now the president of our unofficial school penguin fan club.  I could wax poetic about penguins for pages, but I will restrain myself (I have, however, given you a link to the cam below, so that you can experience the joy for yourselves).  Today, when I checked on my beloved “pengis” I noticed one poor Adelie smack-dab in the middle of what is called “catastrophic molt.”  Catastrophic indeed!  The poor things eat and eat and become quite rotund, then for as long as it takes all their old feathers to shed (a couple weeks or more), they cannot eat because they cannot swim.  So they fast and they molt, and, given the image I’ve posted, they don’t look very happy AT ALL.  

The molting Adelie is looking a little like a feather explosion.

This poor Adelie (to the right and looking worse for the wear) might be a symbol for how we all feel sometimes.  I’ve been there, and boy do I want to go to SeaWorld and give this little guy a hug (and perhaps a good plucking to help him along).  You know the feeling:  Life is spinning out of control.  Maybe you are struggling with an emotional conflict.  Or work has become the epitome of “the grind” and you are laboring to find a way to appreciate your job.  Perhaps someone you love is suffering and you don’t know how to help.  Many different scenarios speak to the “catastrophic molts” that appear in our lives.  And boy are we miserable in those moments. 

 

Each weekday I receive a short devotion from Max Lucado in my email inbox (see link below if you’d like to sign up for these great little emails), and today’s message was very timely, especially after seeing our molting Adelie penguin.  Lucado shared the following quote from C.S. Lewis “The moment you wake up each morning your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job of each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, letting that other, stronger, larger, quieter life come flowing in.”   I had fun pondering this idea today.  Do I enter the day frantic and rushing?  (I’m sad to report that most of the time answer is yes).  How can I quiet down and seek peace at the beginning of each day?  I need to figure this out.  Whether it is getting up 10 minutes earlier to read a devotion or passage from the Bible, having a hot cup of Earl Gray tea instead of rushing out the door with nothing in my stomach at all, or listening to my favorite music on the drive to work to get my head right…whatever I can do to “listen to that other voice” so I can let the “stronger, larger, quieter life” move in would definitely be worth it.  Something tells me if I find ways to make this happen each morning, my light will shine brighter both for myself and for the people I encounter.

In this same devotion, Lucado goes on to share a quote from the Book of Psalms:  Here’s how the psalmist began his day: “Every morning, I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer” (Psalm 5:3).  While our pitiful little Adelie waits for the catastrophic molt to run its course, we can perhaps wait quietly for our hearts to quiet down and find their center.  And when we find people in their own catastrophes, we can reach out and give them some encouragement along the way.  Because it’s likely that we’ll need some encouragement of our own along life’s worn path.

SeaWorld San Diego’s Penguin Cam:

http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-sandiego/Animals/Webcams/Penguin-Cam

Max Lucado’s UpWords Daily Devotion:

http://maxlucado.com/email/