Journaling Archives - Page 63 of 68

Oh, how the Lord works! During prayer last night, I stumbled upon the words “seeing beyond the obvious.” How appropriate it was for this reflection – God’s guidance and inspiration for sure! I recently acquired a lithograph of a painting by Warner Sallman. My mom had one when I was growing up and I just love the imagery. So today I sat and meditated on the painting, looking for ways in which God was speaking to me. I get the overall message of the painting but I wanted to see beyond the obvious, I wanted a personal message. The reason I decided to do this was twofold: Firstly, my husband, my biggest supporter, God bless him, was intrigued by the painting and remembered another one of Sallman’s paintings had deep hidden messages as well. Secondly, a few months ago I participated in an e-retreat conducted by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA. The e-retreat expanded the idea of lectio divina (which I describe in my pages at the top of the site) to include not only the Bible, but nature, photography, art and the news as well. I was blown away! I knew about the Bible, I felt God’s presence in nature, but I never thought about contemplating how He spoke to me in photographs or art or the news. The idea behind it is basically to focus on how these particular things tug at your heart, what grabs you about a particular news report for example and contemplate why and how God is calling you forth. Anyone interested in checking out the website, please click here – tons of things to digest – a site for all faiths.

Today I chose art. So I focus on the look on Jesus’ face – as he looks at the sheep in His arm – it is a look of love, compassion and mercy. The sheep is obviously younger than the rest. Immediately the song Jesus Loves the Little Children comes to mind. He’s standing in the midst of His flock, which interestingly enough includes a black sheep – a testament to the fact that He loves us all no matter what and welcomes us back no matter where we’ve been. In addition to His sheep, we see Jesus is surrounded by mountains, rocks, a stream and birds. The mountains and rocks reminded me of Psalm 18:2: The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge: My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Mountains: fortress, stronghold, rock: self explanatory, Serenity of nature: refuge), The stream of course representative of Jesus, the living stream – the source of our true happiness as long as we TRUST! The little birds in the painting drew my attention to Matthew 6:26: Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? The longer I contemplated, the more I noticed or should I say the more I “heard”.

I mentioned earlier that my husband is my biggest supporter and there is no denying that – he’s the force behind the name of this blog, he’s the reason I acquired the beautiful painting (which replaced my wedding picture I might add) and he’s the reason I continue to do what I do here. When he found the lithograph and showed it to me, I loved it and watched it on ebay for weeks on end – the auction would end and the item would be relisted. This happened several times until finally I said, “I want it!” I am so glad I did. Every time I look at it now, I will be reassured that Jesus is my rock, my strength and my refuge. He is the living stream through which all life and happiness flows. He is my provider, I need fear nothing for He will provide for all my needs! All will be well! Amen!

After contemplating the meaning of the painting on my own, I decided to research whether there was an explanation of the artist’s intended meaning and here is what I found. It was interesting for me to see the differences and similarities with my perception. Further proof of how important it is for us to put the work in – to see beyond the obvious. After reading the artist’s comments I realized that the painting was not “The Good Shepherd” as I originally thought, but “The Lord is My Shepherd” a reference to Psalm 23 – my husband’s favorite bible verse. The painting took on a whole new meaning for me. Just amazing!

I say all this to drive home the importance of seeing beyond the obvious, to not just take what other people have to say as law, but to come up with your own interpretations, come up with your own answers. Too often we dismiss the deeper meaning of an experience simply because we are focusing on the obvious or taking someone else’s word for it. We dismiss people and opportunities because of the “obvious” and we wind up losing out on a great relationship or teaching moment because we didn’t care enough to see beyond the obvious. Seeing beyond the obvious requires hope AND work. Whenever you’re down and out, for whatever reason, take a lesson from our Savior – He saw beyond the obvious. His obvious was the crucifixion, but He saw beyond that to the resurrection!

What’s your obvious? What’s your crucifixion? Is it the loss of a loved one? Is it addiction or illness – your own or that of a loved one? Is it the inability to conceive? Is it a broken or strained relationship? The first thing I would say is that we CANNOT, absolutely cannot rely on our own understanding as to why we have the experiences we have in life. The bible tells us trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5. That is what it means to have hope! Through our experiences, through our suffering comes opportunity. Opportunity to reflect, opportunity to trust, opportunity to see beyond the obvious, opportunity to hope that all will be well! That is what it means to work at it! The second thing I would say is look beyond the addiction, look beyond the illness, look beyond the obstacle – there’s more there, there’s an opportunity for growth – take the opportunity and run with it – stretch that soul, take the time to work at it, work through the pain, don’t wait for someone else to do it for you, remember our Lord’s promise – beyond the pain (crucifixion) there is redemption (resurrection). God bless you!

Outside my kitchen window stands one of the most beautiful maple trees I have ever seen. It stands tall and reveals a beautiful shape when in full bloom. I often stand under it and just look up. As I stood waiting for my coffee to brew this morning, I gazed out the window at the maple which is now bare. It’s one of the last trees on my property to change color. It’s such a huge tree that the leaves begin to change sporadically throughout – it doesn’t change all at once. Just when I start noticing the upper part displaying a beautiful fiery orange into yellow, it seems that the tree loses all its leaves. So as I stood there this morning, I thought “one of my favorite trees – too bad I don’t get to enjoy it in all it’s autumn splendor.” I began to think maybe my neighbors get a better view from afar. Then it hit me, sometimes we tend to miss what’s right under our noses, what’s closest to us, because we’re so focused on what’s at a distance. In other words, focused on tomorrow – our hopes and dreams and what others possess instead of being in the moment or allowing ourselves to be enough.

What do I mean by all this? So often we search outside ourselves for things we THINK will bring us true happiness: a significant other, a friend, a bad habit, an inanimate object, elaborate vacations, etc. but those things seldom bring us the happiness we seek. Why is that? Because true happiness comes from within, the thing closest to you, the inner recesses of your soul! NO ONE and NOTHING will ever “complete” you because outside sources are unnecessary, you are a child of God, you are already complete! The sad part of all this is that I think most people understand this concept, but refuse to do the, sometimes painful, excavating necessary to stand in their truth. I truly believe that when you begin to excavate, when you begin to do some soul-searching, you will find that you possess, by God’s grace, all it takes to be truly happy.

My beautiful maple tree adds to the beauty of the autumn landscape on the mountain. It’s contribution to the overall beauty of the mountain is magnificent. But one thing we can learn from it is this: it grew into its own BEFORE it became part of the bigger mountain and it continues to stand on its own! I’m so grateful that it’s mine!

I have a plaque on my bedroom wall which reads: Lessons from a tree: Reach for the sky, Remember your roots, and Be content with your natural beauty. I would translate that to mean turn to God, remember you are a child of God and love yourself! Think about that. God bless you!