Ground Control by Susan L.

  I took some down time yesterday and last night. Playing some new music, a selection of love songs from WWII, while doing the last of the gift wrapping helped alleviate most of the remaining jangling nerves. I watched a movie on the internet and went to bed early. Simple pleasures that help ground me and keep me from being swallowed by memories I'd much rather forget.
  Last winter I invested in some polar fleece sheets for my bed. They are wonderfully warm and cozy but prone to static electricity. I was getting painfully shocked every time I rolled over even after using copious amounts of fabric softener in the wash. Attaching a small piece of copper wire to the metal part of my bedframe that was long enough to touch the floor eliminated the threat. My bed is now grounded. Pumpkin was happy about that too because kitty ears and noses are very sensitive!
    January and February can be bad for static as well. The cold, dry arctic air makes me wish I had a piece of copper wire hanging from my coattails. Carpet and metal doorknobs are an almost lethal combination. The "crack!" can be heard for miles. So can my hissing cries of pain!
  It's difficult in the moment to contend with triggers. Like static, I often don't know a charge is building until a connection is made. The emotional pain can be as quick and as painful as touching that doorknob. So much so that where I am, who I am with, vanishes into the mists of memory.
  Last night's movie, "After Earth" starring Will Smith was all about grounding; about "taking a knee" when panic is ensuing. It was about focusing on the moment: sight, sound and smell in order to reconnect to the present. God is good. It was something I needed to see.
  Lord, help me remember these lessons when things are beginning to fray at the edges or when I am suddenly shocked. Help me remember to take a knee before You. Help me remember that the thread that connects us is far more than copper; that in You I am grounded and safe.
  "I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live." Ps 116:1-2