Esquilo’s Backpack

Jesus talked in John 14:15-21 about how he will send a helper to us, the Holy Spirit. I was thinking about what it means that we need a helper and I talked it over with my good friend Barty Badger, who told me this story.

One day, as the legend goes, Esquilo the Squirrel was off on an adventure! He had been spending quite a bit of time with Miss Felicity Fox and was so impressed with her. She has a backpack with a thousand pockets and always has what she needs. Esquilo liked that idea. He liked it a lot. Esquilo was great at seeing the solution to problems, and the idea of having the solution to every problem made his whiskers twizzle.

So he got to packing. He packed everything he thought he might need. A sleeping bag, extra acorns, cotton candy (in case he met a wildebeest), and… what else?

What do you think Esquilo put in his backpack?

He put all of that in and more. The little backpack was full to bursting but Esquilo schlepped it off into the woods.

After a little while of huffing and puffing, lugging this heavy pack, Esquilo came across a mouse. His name was Maynard and he was crying. Esquilo thumped his backpack down and went over to the mouse. “What’s wrong?”

Maynard sniffled. “I was playing with a friend, but I got lost.” And he broke out crying again.

Esquilo looked at his backpack. How could he fix this situation? Ah ha! He had just the thing. He packed for this.

Esquilo reached into his backpack and pulled out a bouncy ball. All kids like bouncy balls! Esquilo gave it an experimental bounce or two and then handed it to Maynard. Maynard just set it aside and cried.

“Hmmm…” thought Esquilo. “That didn’t work. Ah ha! That’s it!” He reached into another pocket and pulled out needle nose pliers! “Want to work on a project?” he asked. Maynard shook his head no.

Esquilo started to get frustrated. The sleeping bag, no. The acorns, no. The 18 function Swiss army multitool? No. The cotton candy surely would do it! No?! Maynard just cried.

Esquilo dumped out his backpack. Nothing he packed fixed the problem! He didn’t have what he needed. Feeling defeated, Esquilo slumped down next to Maynard.

Maynard gently leaned his head on Esquilo’s shoulder and cried. Esquilo was confused for a moment, but then said, “How about I just sit and wait with you? I’m sure help is coming.” Maynard sniffled and nodded his head.

Well, that’s what the legend says, but I know one thing is true: Sometimes we can’t fix every problem, and that’s ok.