Look Up

 

As the day moved quickly toward sunset, I happened to leave my office at the perfect moment to find the sun making its way through the clouds at just the right angle. Wherever the rays hit, the landscape literally glowed. The remaining colors on the trees seemed aflame. It was a lovely, brief moment of natures’s creative beauty come to life. I was grateful to happen by and to be able to take in short lived gift.

Sometimes we would do well to keep our eyes open for such moments of beauty and blessing. How often have I missed such a gift because I was plowing ahead toward some big goal out on my horizon? What beauty has been mine to enjoy that went unseen because my eyes were down, lost in the chaos of life and work. It would only take a moment to look up. And who knows? Perhaps that moment would illuminate my life like the sun against the trees.

The scriptures teach us to “Be still and know that I am God.” The Psalmists speaks of “lifting my eyes” to see help for times of trouble. Jesus taught us to notice the everyday things like birds and flowers so that we might understand the Kingdom of God. So why do we run, stumble or stagger our way through so much of our lives with our head down and eyes averted? Why would we miss so much beauty and grace? It would serve us well to look up as we make our way through each day. We never know. Perhaps the light will shine on us.

Peace.