See or Behold?

Albert Pike once penned a reminder to all of us: "The eye of the cheerful and of the melancholy man are fixed on the same creation; but very different are the aspects which it bears to them." In other words, we all see the same things, but we see them in quite different ways. The way we interpret things is often based upon the circumstances we find ourselves in, or the experiences we have amassed over our lifetime. We "see", but the similarity of what we "behold" is different. It is quite possible to gaze at God's creation one day, seeing one thing that captures our attention, then see it totally differently the next day. Why is that? Today's perceptions may be 'colored' or 'clouded' by whatever is occurring deep within our mind, body, and soul at that moment in time. It is good to see, but it is even better to see as God sees - with freshness, renewal, and grace!

What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look—the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they’d die in a minute— Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life— the whole countryside in bloom and blossom. (Psalm 104:24-30 MSG)

We have a whole flock of love birds that live in the wild in the area of our work. When my BFF and I take our afternoon walk after lunch, we oftentimes will see them in flight, or repeating messages across the tree tops at each other. It is as though one calls to the other and they are just not satisfied until all of them have joined up in very close proximity to each other. I wonder if that is the case with you and I? Is God's creation calling to us to draw nearer to him? To each other? It could just be we won't fully appreciate God's creation until we are near enough to him to fully see it as he sees it! You do realize scripture declares that even his 'creation' gives testimony to who he is - meaning that even the love birds in the trees, or tiniest of hummingbirds calling out can be a reminder to us to draw near to him!

As we walk along, my BFF may point out a tiny head peeping from a mound way across the open field. The wee gopher perched just far enough out of his hole - allowing him to see just enough to keep him safe - yet so far away from us that he will not find the grapes we toss his way. There are times we stay so safely 'perched' so as to just barely see, close enough to quickly escape anything appearing as a threat to us, but in so doing we often miss the greatest of pleasures God has prepared for us! It is possible we miss much - maybe by our 'not looking so as to behold', but merely to 'observe'. There is a great difference between 'looking' and 'beholding', my friends.

Let us go through life, not just 'seeing', but really 'beholding' what it is God has put in our midst. When we hear the calls to come closer, to draw in and be with him, let us heed those calls. When we find it is time to look with fresh eyes on something we have seen only one way all our days, let us be open to seeing, really beholding, that thing in a different way - through 'fresh eyes'. Just lookin!

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