Coming into Focus
Jan Hill of New Brighton, MN, USA
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28
When I was in the fourth grade many years ago, my parents took me to the eye doctor because they thought I was not seeing like I should. We lived in a small town in southern Iowa; and to see an eye doctor, we had to travel to the city that was big and unfamiliar and two hours away.
After I had my eyes tested, we took the script to the place that would grind the lenses and set them in the frames. It wasn’t a one-hour wait like it is at some places today. It was going to take the rest of the day, but we were assured that the new glasses would be ready by closing time that afternoon.
I remember the ride home with my new glasses on. It was getting dark, and when we got away from the bright lights of the city and rode through the dark countryside, I looked out the car window and realized for the first time that those fuzzy white blobs I had been seeing were really pinpoints of light, sparkling and dancing in the sky.
Then the song made sense to me:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
Those stars had been there all the time. I just couldn’t see them until I put on my new eyes and looked upward, and then they came clearly into focus.
I wonder how many more diamonds I would see if I took the responsibility, like the blind man in the scriptures, for washing the mud from my eyes.
Prayer Phrase
In God we all belong.
Spiritual Practice
Sustaining Our Connections
Many find themselves isolated around the world to protect each other and the most vulnerable during this global pandemic. Spend time prayerfully imagining those people that you might normally come into contact with on a regular basis, known and unknown. Remember all the connections that sustain our lives each day. Even in this time of intentional separation, how are you experiencing deep, intrinsic belonging in God?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
