What does He see? What do I see?

What are those horrid black lines doing on my photo? All I wanted was the trees!

Many years earlier, when we built a house on an undeveloped lot, I had to get
accustomed to having poplar, oak, and chokecherry trees on three sides of our yard.
The bush provided shelter from the north wind, yielded firewood enough to heat
our house for many years, and sheltered deer and birds. The birds made sure they got their share of wild saskatoon berries, and we enjoyed them, too. Although living “in the bush” had been a new experience for me, I learned to enjoy it and felt at home.

Then we moved from that rural acreage to a smaller lot in an urban community.
I wondered if I would miss the trees. As we settled into an older house, I began to make the acquaintance of our new tree neighbours. One morning I was a little disoriented when I awoke. How can there be trees on this side of the bedroom?  I had been so focused on unpacking I had not noticed the mirrored closet doors. I chuckled, thankful for the bonus view of birch and linden, and realized I would feel very much at home once again.

The kitchen window frames a different view. I can gaze at caragana shrubs, cedars, and the neighbours’ high hedges while I do dishes. A little further back, a massive evergreen stands sentinel at the corner of our property. I just don’t tire of seeing these trees, and sometimes I grab my camera, thinking I can capture their beauty. Then, when I look at the digital image, I’m dismayed by slashes of black, those unsightly cables intruding on the view.

When I look at someone whose life is scarred, I try to look for the beauty God poured into that life. He sees His original plan for each of us. It helps to remember what God said when Samuel wanted to anoint a handsome kingly candidate. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

The cables will stay. I’ll keep looking up at the trees, and they’ll help me remember beauty is one of God’s gifts. Father, please show me the beauty of each human life.

Open the curtains!

It may still be dark out, but I open the curtains anyway. Daylight will come.

My mom had something to do with my habit. It began when I was a child. I doubt she gave any thought to my watching her, because she was on a mission. Of course, it wasn’t early morning when we visited her parents, but I can so clearly remember what happened every time we got to Grandpa and Grandma’s yellow stucco house. Mom put down whatever packages of food or mended clothing she had brought, and starting in the dining room, gave each tired old green window blind a good yank, sending it flying to the top of the frame. It was bad enough the heavy lace curtains still blurred any view of the out-of-doors, but she would have nothing to do with hiding in a darkened house.

I wonder now if my grandparents felt just a little too exposed living in that two-storey house in town. To the north were the railroad tracks and a huge orange grain elevator, so that was may have been their link to farming days. But, there were other people across the street on the east side and even more houses to the south, where the town stretched for blocks. Who knew how many strangers might come to peer in the windows?

Mom never ventured her ideas as to the reason for drawn blinds, but it must have been a deep-seated one, for the house was dark whenever my mom and I arrived. Mom never lost any time letting the sunshine brighten that old house. She raised the blinds as often as they’d been lowered!

Although watching Mom helped form my values, I have my own reasons for wanting the curtains open. Usually I wake about the same time, and in winter, the days are so short I have to wait a while before the eastern sky shows light. So why open the curtains? Because I want to see the light! 

As darkness fades and slight tinges of light appear, my anticipation wakens, too, and I wonder what the day may bode. Is this what the Psalmist and other writers of Holy Scripture felt?

Awake, my soul! Awake, O stringed instruments and harp! I will wake up at dawn! Psalm 57:8

I am up before dawn, crying for help. I find hope in your word.  Psalm 119:147

“Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3

Because of our God’s tender mercy the dawn will break upon us from on high. Luke 1:78

The image of light is prevalent in God’s word, and that’s another reason having an unobstructed view is significant to me.

I open the curtains, settle in my chair, often with a hot beverage, and look to the the light in God’s word. I don’t want anything to obscure what He will shine into my life.