It is easy to get caught up with life’s demands. It starts with the endless to-do list which never seems to be shorter than it was yesterday no matter how hard and long I work. Then there are the things I enjoy doing, if only to take a break from the List. Yesterday I woke determined to make headway on my list. Fifteen hours and two meals later, I felt like I had put in a 40-hour week in a day. On one hand, I was confident that I had made progress. On the other, I realized I had not stepped outside all day. Dawn to dusk, consumed by demands and needs, life externally had continued without regard to my priorities.
I woke today determined that things would be different. I realized that it started with my response to the day’s start. On this occasion, I looked out and up. Everything changed. As a reminder to myself, let me share the lessons that followed.
We may think we are the center of the story. Life reminds me that we are not the center; we are part of something much bigger! Life invites us into more not less. As important as we are, and we are individually priceless, we are even more important when we are part of something more than ourselves.
Life is more than demands. In looking out, I found myself bathed in beauty, wonder, and inspiration. My heart found itself refreshed and filled with hope as I considered the natural beauty as well as humanity’s response to it. We are invited to experience, consume, and in response, give back.
Goodness, beauty, and hope are availability if one is willing to look beyond one’s self and experience. There is so much more around me than what I normally see. The reminder of the psalmist is timely; “You, God, are high and eternal.” (Psalm 92.8)
Everything points to the reality that you and I are in the construction business. We are building ourselves. We also have the opportunity to help make everything better.
