PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING
(Thursday, September 14)
This morning I entered my building, coming back from my power walk here in Vienna, and noticed this sign next to the elevator, which says (in German): “Look at everything with the eyes of love! Then a lot will change.” Because our landlord is always putting up these kinds of mildly-annoying signs. But it did make me think.
As those of us on the OC celebrate the “Church New Year” today, and those of us on the NC – the great feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, it’s good to be reminded that perspective, or the light in which we see things, is everything. It changes everything.
But it takes a bit of daily work, to heal our perspective. Whenever the voices in my own head are tending to point out everything “wrong” with me and with the world, in a hopeless kind of way, it’s time to scramble back into connection with God and His good energies, called “grace.” And to scramble back onto the way of the Cross, which involves an acceptance of both the pluses and minuses of one’s own self and of one’s world and time, and to walk forward in the gentle realism that is humility. God’s loving “It is good,” as He looks at all of us and the rest of creation, rubs off on us, whenever we reach out for communion with Him. Thank You, Lord, for this new church year, and glory be to Your honorable Cross, which is ever leading us to the new life in You and with one another, in compassion for ourselves and everyone we encounter.
