Look Up!

I have walked our 2 dogs, Molly & Ivy, past this large oak tree on the corner of our block dozens of times since we have moved here just over a month ago. It just seemed an ordinary oak tree with a large, unremarkable trunk.  But this morning when I was walking the dogs, they paused for an unusually long time at the base of that oak, sniffing all around as they do.  While standing there this time my eyes traveled up the trunk of the oak to an amazing sight!  The branches of the oak were covered in small ferns and other lush green plant growth.  All of it was clearly not part of the oak tree, but rather was evidence of a living, thriving plant community that had taken up residence on that tree.  There seemed to be an entire ecosystem in the branches of that oak tree.  But I had never noticed it before because I had never looked up!  I had never lifted my gaze from the ground to take in what was around me on a higher level.

How often do we go through our days with our gaze focused on the ground!?  For the past two months that has been where my gaze has been directed.  It has been locked on the ground in front of me as I have been totally task-oriented and focused.  For the past two months I have been consumed with the tasks of closing down our life in Miami and restarting our life in Savannah.  It was not an easy move. 

While our move was complicated by the onset of health issues and unexpected knee surgery for my spouse, I suspect that no move in our modern, hi-tech society is easy.  There are just so many tasks involved in relocating a life: from closing down accounts (and in some cases returning equipment), notifying all sorts of people and businesses of address changes, boxing up your life (and in the process sorting through all your possessions to decide what needs to be moved, what can be sold, what should be given away, and what needs to be trashed) scheduling the move (including assistance with loading the truck), scheduling the start-up of utilities and services in the new location, actually moving all your possessions and then the process of unloading the truck and unpacking the boxes. 

Of course, this is just a microcosm of most of our lives in general. For me I can point to any number of rationalizations for what has been transpiring in my personal and work life for the last number of years that have kept me focused on accomplishing the task in front of me and when it was done moving right on to the next task presenting itself.  This is often praised as good concentration; being focused; responsible; strong work-ethic.  But in the process we miss so much.

With my gaze focused on the immediate task, on the ground in front of me, I miss the hidden ecosystem thriving above my head.  I miss the faces of the people I pass on the street.  I miss the beautiful blue sky above, and the cotton ball clouds gently floating along.  I miss the opportunities to pet the dogs, to play with grandchildren, to gaze with love in my wife’s eyes.  I miss the possibility of engaging in relaxed conversation with dear friends and sharing memories and stories with extended family.  I miss the chance to relish and treasure the places which make the place I live special and then wonder when I leave why I never visited that place or did that thing.

There is so much more to life than attending to tasks and responsibilities.  While many of those things are necessary and need attention, if that is all we pay attention to, we will miss so much of the beauty, wonder, and special moments of life which truly lift it and make it unique and worthwhile.  One of the gifts of retirement is unfettered time.  I want to make sure it does not become frittered time and one way to do that is to be sure to LOOK UP more.  It is also the gift of Sabbath time, which God offers us once each seven days and encourages us to find even more opportunities to embrace.

Taking time to LOOK UP is one action which might lead to more Sabbath moments.

A New Start for Sabbath Tango

(It has been over two years since I last posted to this blog.  I don't know why I let my sharing in this space lapse.  I have enjoyed travels during that time.  I have written in my journal - but not as frequently as I would like.  Anyway, I have been journaling more lately and I have had some travels recently that I want to share with the wider world.  So I am reviving this blog beginnign with this reflection I wrote on August 31, 2012 while Dianne and I were visiting family in Vermillion, Ohio over Labor Day Weekend.)

Sitting on the south shore of Lake Erie in the shade of two maple trees the horizon appears to stretch to eternity before me.  I know Canada is across the lake, but only because I have been told so, not by any proof to my eyes.  This Great Lake is not the ocean and yet, to my visual senses it appears the same as when I stand on the shore of Biscayne Bay and stare off toward Africa beyond the Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Moments such as these remind me how vast and huge is our world.  Yet, place our globe in the perspective of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and we are a minor planet circling a minor star, on the very fringe of the galaxy composed of hundreds of millions of stars and planets.  Then place our Milky Way galaxy in the perspective of the universe where it is one of thousands of galaxies and the scale of size moves way beyond what my mind can grasp.

On such a scale how do we ever begin to imagine that any of our actions or lives every truly matter beyond our own limited sphere of influence?  Yet we have a tendency as human beings to inflate our actions and lives to the point we believe they and we are the ONLY thing that matters.  We nurse and harbor grudges to the point that we believe a hurt to us strikes at the heart of reality and the universe.  We have trouble accepting apologies, offering forgiveness, and realizing and accepting that most of the time behavior from others that may hurt us has more to do with them, what is going on with them, what hurts and pain and wounds they are carrying around and trying to deal with far more than it has anything to do with us.

But inflating ourselves and our lives to the center and focus of the universe does not really shift or change the scale of reality at all.  We are still momentary, minor moments of carbon elements and gases congealing to experience a brief flash of time and space on the continuum of eternity and infinity.

The Good News from Jesus though is that God loves us.  God created us for these momentary experiences and God loves us through each breath and God will continue to love us when our little speck of time on this globe has passed.  We are infinitely and eternally important to God and beloved by God whatever we do or do not do. 

So why don’t we embrace our brief time to enjoy it fully?  Why don’t we let go of the anxiety and worry that clouds our actions?  Why don’t we let go of hurts and grudges and embrace our fellow travelers in love?  It is a grand, glorious, beautiful world in which God has placed us.  It would be a shame to waste our brief opportunity to enjoy it!