Month: July 2017

In the morning during my quiet time and breakfast, I enjoy this view of my backyard. The birds flit down to the birdfeeder, grab some seeds, and maybe even jump into the birdbath for a drink or bath. This year, I have watched corn grow from sprouts to tall stalks. The woods behind my house are home to a bald eagle’s nest.

During this time I try not to look at my phone or my computer, desiring to enjoy the beauty of creation in my midst.

These moments remind me that we have lost a sense of awe.

We stare into our phones.

We sit inside and watch TV.

We listen to music constantly.

We do many things that distract us from the simple beauty all around us.

I plead just as guilty as everyone else. I miss the simplicity of wonder because I am too engulfed in the complex, artificial wonders we have created.

Don’t hear me say that our phones or TV or music are bad. They aren’t. But we shouldn’t let them blind us and numb us to the simple beauty all around.

If you want to create space to experience and rediscover awe, you don’t have to throw away your technology and live off the grid. It begins with small steps, like putting down your phone and watching a sunset or sitting to observe nature around you.

I enjoy my few minutes every morning connecting with creation. Watching the birds fly to and fro, thinking about how amazing the cycle of seasons is, seeing eagles soar across the sky, and listening to a gentle breeze or a summer storm. In those moments I experience the simplicity of wonder offered by the beautiful creation we have been given to care for during our time here.

In the last month I have read two books by Pope Francis. As I reflect on these readings I remember a religious tribe I used to belong to that would vilify the Pope and Catholicism for certain doctrines and beliefs.
Reading these books has shown me that I have much wisdom to gain from Francis. Do I ascribe to all of his theology and doctrines? No. But, like me, he is a human being seeking to know God and live accordingly.
Why has our culture devolved into “camps” and “sides”? …Why is it Republican vs. Democrat, white vs. black, Muslim vs. Christian, science vs. faith, homosexuals vs. the church, and on and on I could go? Why can’t we all humbly admit that we are imperfect people trying to make the world a better place?
Why can’t Republicans and Democrats sit down and work together to find the best way to provide health care?
Why can’t whites and blacks stop labeling each other and seek true reconciliation?
Why can’t Muslims and Christians sit around a table and seek peace?
Why can’t science and faith both admit they have beliefs they’ll never be able to fully prove?
Why can’t homosexuals and the church break bread together and learn to love instead of hate?
If your first response to any of these is to say “yes, but” then you, like me, want to defend the system that makes you more right than someone else.
I offer these thoughts not because I think I have all the answers, but because I know I don’t. I am humbly reminded every day that someone is more intelligent than me, more compassionate than me, more giving than me, and more loving than me. And, if I’m truly honest, sometimes those someones are the people with whom I may disagree about something significant.
Can we please lay down our defensiveness and need to be right and extend a hand of love and mercy towards those who we may label as “other”?