Changing Your Lenses To Truly See

Today, I find myself reflecting on how you don't have to be a genius to know that the world is not as it should be.  But you do have to be a genius to skillfully avoid seeing/hearing about all the ways things are messed up and broken.  

These days, the constant stream of bad news seems to find us, no matter what barriers we erect to shield ourselves from it.  

And it can make you feel sick inside--weary and overwhelmed.  If you are not careful (and even when you are) you can quickly and easily begin to see the world solely through the distorted lens of a half-empty glass.  

This morning, I got to thinking about all the ways I've allowed myself to define my view of the world (and some of the people in it) in negative terms.  

I also felt a surge of passion and desire for something better--for the world and for myself.  It filled me like a huge deep breath--the kind you take when you're about to jump off a high dive.  

Today in my morning reading, I was struck by a wonderful poem by Ryan O'Neal entitled "Taste."  

Out of the woods, out of the dark.
I’m well aware of the shadows in my heart.
I wanna feel, tectonic shifts;
I wanna be, I wanna be, astonished.
I wanna be astonished.

So I propose a toast:
To fists unraveling, to glass unshattering.
To breaking all the rules, to breaking bread again.
We’re swallowing light, we’re swallowing our pride.
We’re raising our glass, ’til we’re fixed from the inside. 

As I read O'Neal's poem, I recalled another poetic verse that was uttered by an ancient Hebrew prophet by the name of Ezekiel.  Ezekiel delivers the words of God to God's people--an assurance of God's desire for them to live bigger, to be alive with possibility.  

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. - Ezekiel 36:26

May you be filled today with a new spirit--the kind that opens up your whole life to the positive possibilities of this beautiful and Divinely loved world.  May the stony walls you've erected to guard your heart be cracked and fall away to reveal your true self.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.