Sight Lines

From the rooftop in New York you can see much of the heart of Manhattan.  Your eyes catch the skyscrapers of Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, SoHo, the East Village, and the monster buildings of Murray Hill and Midtown.  If you take the views and walk the streets you will develop a sense for what things are like in Manhattan.  The analysis will not give you the granularity of individual stories, yet the flow of the community can be grasp, felt, and to a degree understood. 
 
From the second floor of the Cabana at home you can see a slice of the Inland Empire valley.  The backdrop of the mountains with the valley floor is inspiring.  If one reflects you capture a picture of what life is like.  Combine these views with cruising through the streets of Redlands, Mentone, and San Bernardino, and a fuller picture begins to emerge of the Inlands Empire.  These communities have a story to tell.
 
Far too often I find myself overwhelmed by the stuff of the moment.  I forget the views I have seen from life’s vantage points.  I forget the obvious lessons life has to teach.  I get caught up in the flow, ignorant of everything that lies at my feet.  I’m not the first or the last to be caught in this predicament.  In a story of old, “the Master [God] sent a message against Jacob.  It landed right on Israel's doorstep.  All the people soon heard the message, Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.  But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.  They dismissed the message, saying, ‘Things aren't that bad.  We can handle anything that comes.  If our buildings are knocked down, we'll rebuild them bigger and finer.  If our forests are cut down, we'll replant them with finer trees.’ ” (Isaiah 9.8-10) 
 
You and I have the chance to do something with our experiences.  We can see and understand what is in the present because of the experiences we have had in the past.  We can make a difference.  It starts in this moment.