Perspective

 

Hints of light orange haze melt into the horizon as dark clouds continue to move along by a steady breeze. I shiver and sip my tea, happy to watch the sun rise from the warmth of the indoors. Thick puffs of sea fog, which cling to the water, roll along too outside my window as I write, casting mysterious shadows over Friar Roads---separating the US from Canada. Little pink smudges capture my eyes as darkness breaks. I smile and think of that verse in the Psalms, I believe it is Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims the work of His hands.”

I am caught between the real and the unreal---but which is which? The seen and the unseen. The temporary and the eternal. I witness beauty. I stand in mouth-open wonder. Questions teeter in my mind.

What (or who) causes the sun to rise each morning and set each night? Why does the moon sleep during the day and show himself at night. How do I know the wind so well in a bitter, joyous way, when I have never even seen him with my eyes? What is the purpose of such awful cold in Maine when the day begins so frigid and uninviting? Or what is the purpose of such nauseating heat in the desert city of Maroua in Cameroon, Africa, which causes people to seek a refuge from the blazing sun?

How can all these things be so beautiful and yet so terrible? So breathtaking and yet life threatening? So similar and yet so opposite?

Where does the real and unreal meet? Where does the temporary and eternal part ways?

What is the meaning of all of this that we see, and how do we grapple with what we do not see?

 

 

 I suppose the answer is not so much found in words, but in perspective. All seems so real and permanent on this earth, when seen through glassy-human eyes. Yet when God lends us His, we are caught off guard by the stark contrast.

I sit here so small compared to the world around me, and then imagine the universe on top of that! When viewed from a higher perspective, my questions find their answers.

Hours pass by, and now the sun has passed the halfway mark of noon and is making its slow descent…or is it fleeting? I sit on my bed watching trucks drive by as fisherman still brave the cold to attempt to pull in a catch before the days end. Even the bitter cold does not cause people to stop from the busyness that seems to grip life. No time seems to ever be available to ponder questions and search for answers. Perspective on earth clouds as life crowds in or perhaps that is the earthly perspective: Life seen through self-tainted eyes.

All of creation calls us to rise above this self-tainted perspective and instead see it through the eyes of its Creator. Soar on the wings of the wind, above the earth and beyond our Milky Way Galaxy and a new perspective takes shape; the sun no longer revolves around the earth, but the earth revolves around the sun. The sun no longer rises nor sets, but the earth continuously spins in orbit. The moon no longer sleeps, but sheds its reflective light on the portion of earth that it sees. As we ride the wind back to the earth below, we see that though the wind is invisible, it cannot-not be seen. As we witness all that the wind touches we see the impact it makes and know its reality. We feel its power against our skin; we hear its whistling through the trees, we cannot deny its existence.

Milky Way Galaxy

I smile and know that the mystery of God is similar. I cannot see the Lord, but I see His fingerprints all over my life, all over creation, and all over history. The great I AM is not the one who revolves around our whims but all things revolve around him. He is the source, the giver of life. I need a new perspective---a “Jesus Perspective.” Jesus Christ walked on this earth as the God-man. He walked in our shoes, but he did not see life through our eyes. Now we must continually decide to walk each new day in his shoes and see life through his eyes.

As the afternoon wanes, some questions seem answered…maybe only the beginning of a poor answer…but so many are left unanswered. But this makes life fun and interesting. Grappling with hard things makes us better thinkers and better life-livers. So maybe as my thoughts close for now, I will take with me the challenge of perspective. The words from that old hymn by Helen H. Lemmel fill my mind with sweet melody:

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”