See
See, this is what I’m talking about:
“We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak, the plans and projects we conceive that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose leaves. The ice on the pond comes and goes. The wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window. We don’t see her. We avoid the cold and the heat. We refrigerate ourselves in summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake up every leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish and fowl in supermarkets we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.
Our world is saturated with grace, and the lurking presence of God is revealed not only in spirit but in matter—in a deer leaping across a meadow, in the flight of an eagle, in fire and water, in a rainbow after a summer storm, in a gentle doe streaking through a forest, in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, in a child licking a chocolate ice cream cone, in a woman with windblown hair. God intended for us to discover His loving presence in the world around us.”—Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel (from the “Cormorants and Kittiwakes” chapter)
I had read Manning’s book after it first came out many years ago and I reread this passage for the first time in so long, yesterday. I’d completely forgotten it and it just happened to be the next chapter. Yesterday morning before I’d read this passage again, I posted a short piece on the same big idea about noticing these “little things” and signs from above. https://pamelacapone.com/2018/03/i-am-glad/
If I had to summarize what my life’s message is, this might be it. It’s my passion. It’s what I try to say in my every day life. If I die today, this is my life’s take-away: Look! Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.
Today Christians celebrate Easter. If you’re a believer, you believe Jesus rose from the dead. This was the miracle of miracles. It’s a pretty dang big sign. But even so, people missed it then and people miss it now.
I believe Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
–which sounds like a choice.
This might sound judgy, but I really don’t get choosing against the miracle. What’s the upside?
I was talking to someone other day about the colors in a Brook Trout. We concluded that the colors are there simply for their beauty. Like a special treat for our eyes. Glory revealed if we choose to see.