Designs

I like people with opinions.  I don’t always agree, yet there is something inherently hopeful, inspiring, and reflective when individuals take a stand.  They say the French like opinions, designs, and creations as long as they are controversial.  I find people that express themselves in clear, transparent, and simple ways often attract critics.  Yet it is in this process one finds inspiration, models one can build on, and legacies that will live on long after the designer has faded.
 
As I walk, a week ago was California, a few days ago New York, and more recently Singapore, I find incredible examples of human creativity and imagination.  Who could have imagined a stinky sewer politely labeled a river turned into a winding place filled with wonderful restaurants, places where friends gather, and laughter?  Who anticipated the birth of a community in a neighborhood dominated by drugs and violence?  Decades ago, I naively walked the streets at night, oblivious of the danger around me.  Today I can walk in peace, knowing the shadows are beautiful and the reflecting lights reflect a destination location, not just safety.
 
As I look back and forward in the present, I find myself encouraged by the attempts of the community to move forward in positive ways.  One can find hope in people reaching upwards and outwards.  There is plenty of work ahead of us.  We will need to reach out more than up.  We will need to examine of perspectives, the designs we think we know.  Perhaps our old views are just that, old.    
 
The reality is that “God sits high above the round ball of earth.  The people look like mere ants.  He stretches out the skies like a canvas—yes, like a tent canvas to live under.  He ignores what all the princes say and do.  The rulers of the earth count for nothing.”  (Isaiah 40.22, 23)  His designs are open, available, and ready for examination.  We can see, experience, and use.  The gateway is our willingness to see what can be, especially with our self.  God designs are our hope.