see

Beauty Break

| Marie Griffith

I’m using our Monday School time to introduce a new feature on my blog called Beauty Break. It was inspired by one of my favorite authors, Karen Swallow Prior.

Beauty is to the spirit what food is to the flesh.     Frederick Buechner

Mostly we live in a routine, which is good and necessary. But routines can turn into a mindless going through the motions. If we aren’t careful, we forget to notice the beauty around us.

A Beauty Break is a spontaneous reminder to pay attention, a chance to stop and observe when something catches our eye. To look and see and wonder, then praise the Maker of beauty and the Giver of gifts.

Even a fleeting glimpse of beauty offers joy. Like when a delighted 4 year old points to a tree in the park and squeals “Look!” as a squirrel scampers to the top.

For a moment we can enjoy the intricate design of a seed, a burst of color in a sunset, a towering granite formation, or the creative expression of an artist. Maybe Beauty Breaks will help us learn to be still and pay attention.

I noticed this sweetgum ball in the middle of the trail where I walked last week because it was green and extra spiky. I picked it up and walked around the park several times as I rolled it around in my hand, switched it to the other hand, rolled it around, and switched again. I liked the way it felt in my hands, but I’ve stepped on plenty of sweetgum balls in my time and I’ve never once liked the way they felt to my bare feet. This one would have caused an extra bit of discomfort.

There are hundreds of tiny seeds inside a sweetgum ball. Scientists discovered not too long ago that the aborted seeds contain shikimic acid, which is used to make Tamiflu. No need for them to gather the pointy ornaments though. They found a way to make it in a lab.

Thousands of them will fall in the coming months wreaking havoc on small feet and annoying the meticulous yard owner.

We’ll just have to watch our steps.

 

Buttercup

| Marie Griffith

It felt like an unusually long winter. The damp chill in the air mixed with the persistent gloomy skies caused me to yearn for spring more than I have in years. After Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow, I counted the days and looked for signs of the warmer, sunnier days of spring.

One early morning work day in late February, I noticed this daffodil in full bloom. We’ve always called them buttercups. But these aren’t buttercups at all. I thought my grandmother called them by that name but she was a master gardener and would have known the difference.

However I came to know them as buttercups is uncertain but I know spring is right around the corner when I see these sunny colored blooms popping up from the earth.

A glimpse of the good to come helped me get through the rest of winter.

 

I am going to pay attention to the spring.
I am going to look around at all the flowers,
and look up at the hectic trees.
I am going to close my eyes and listen.   

 Anne Lamott

Rise/Set

Eclipse

| Marie Griffith

My daughters and I went to Green Mountain for our eclipse viewing. It was exactly what we hoped for. Serene and beautiful. The eclipse began shortly after we arrived but I hiked the loop trail while the girls picked the perfect spot on the dock for us to watch the moon cover the sun. While on the trail I found several clear sunny spots, stopped to put my eclipse glasses on, and viewed the moon edging its way over the sun. I was awe struck and rushed my way through the forest to join the girls on the dock.

We reclined there, viewed the eclipse with our glasses, noticed the fading light, laughed at each other, guessed at the percentage of coverage, watched a newly arrived spectator look for a good spot to sit or point to the eclipse shaped shadows, put our glasses back on and did it again and again until the moon hid the sun as much as it would on Green Mountain.

The eclipse was amazing. The whole thing of it. The going there, the watching and waiting, the laughing with my girls, the riding home afterward. But there was another wonderful part of it.

Throughout our time at Green Mountain, my oldest daughter was very aware of others around us. The couple fishing on the other dock when we arrived. The old couple sitting on a swing near the entrance to the park. The young men glancing toward the sky occasionally. The photographer setting up his special camera for the perfect photo op. There were others around but these were the ones she noticed. None of these had glasses.

She spoke first to the couple sitting in the swing who didn’t realize the show had started.

“Is there something to see?” the elderly lady asked. “Oh yes,” my daughter said as she handed her glasses over.

The sweet elderly lady was delighted to see the crescent shape of the sun. The gentleman in the swing told us he’d seen two eclipses in his lifetime and thanked my daughter for the offer anyway. The fishing lady took a break from the fishing and my daughter saw her walking nearby. She gladly put the glasses on to see what was happening up above and thanked my daughter over and over. My daughter walked to the other dock to share her glasses with the fishing man, shared them with the photography man and eventually gave them away to the young glancers so they could enjoy the rest of the eclipse without worrying about their eyes.

My daughter wanted everyone to see the wonder in the sky.

She enjoyed the eclipse but was overjoyed to see others enjoying the eclipse.

Disconnect

| Marie Griffith

I originally posted this one a couple of years ago but I’ve made it more challenging this time around.

The purpose of my Live Like it Matters Challenge is to inspire you and me to do something to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us, in the place around us, wherever we are.

The title of this post seems a contradiction then, because after all, we have to connect to make a difference. Every other challenge I’ve issued requires us to connect with others in some way and now my challenge is to disconnect.

The challenge is for you to disconnect from your phone, close your laptop, unplug your mobile devices and step away from any other type of media so you can connect in a real way with real people. The people right around you. At home and work. The ball field, the park and the gym. School, the grocery store, church, and the bank. Put your phone down. Take the ear buds out, put the blue tooth device away, and smile at someone. Even better, speak.

Connect. See. Listen.

I’m as guilty as anyone of being unaware of someone two feet away from me because I’m checking the stats of my blog, or looking at the latest headline.

With all of our connectedness, we’re more disconnected from each other than ever. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat will never fulfill our need for real connection……face to face, heart to heart connection.

The real deal. The kind with voice inflection and eye contact and touch and body language and all the other little nuances of real conversation. No emoji can convey all of that.

This week, for at least 3 hours a day – disconnect. If this seems absolutely impossible to you, then you need to take this challenge even more seriously. During your “disconnected” time, pay attention to those around you wherever you are. Watch and listen. Begin a conversation. Look at the person you’re talking with and give them your undivided attention.

Sometimes the best way to disconnect is to go someplace that has no service. I try to be in a no service zone frequently and one of my favorites is the forest. My youngest daughter and I enjoyed a long hike recently. No service meant we paid attention to each other. We reminisced and finished conversations and learned things about each other. Instead of seeing the latest photo on Instagram, we saw several waterfalls, climbed giant rock formations, and noticed the small ferns growing on top of a rock.

But you don’t have to take a hike to disconnect. Just put the phone down.

Because connecting in a real way matters. Live like it matters.

 

 

 

Perspective

| Marie Griffith

I spotted this miniature scene on one of my downtown walks recently. I was surprised to find it where it was, but I was even more surprised I hadn’t noticed it before.

The tiny door sits at the bottom of a very large tree standing on the narrow grassy area between the sidewalk and the busy street. Once the door caught my eye, I stopped to take a photo. I wanted to stay and look more carefully…..to see what other tiny things I could find…… but I felt I was intruding.

And it wasn’t until I studied the photo closely that I noticed the little pumpkin or gourd with a little green leaf on top next to the door. See it? IMG_5204

I almost missed this odd little sight. Almost walked right past it like I had before.

What else do I miss? Do I see what I should see?

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”      

C.S. Lewis (The Magician’s Nephew)

Joy

| Marie Griffith

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart
Prepare Him room

Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly. This life is the kind that has a joy so deep, a joy so real, that it’s indestructible. Not that we won’t go through trials of many kinds. We will. But the abundant life is the kind of life that can smile in the midst of trouble and sickness and sorrow. Not a forced smile. A genuine one.

It’s the kind of life that can see beyond the here and now because the abundant life Jesus promises is the kind of life that knows this isn’t the end. There is more to come. A lot more. Eternity.

But for many the tension of preparing for Christmas Day increases as the day draws near. We dash here and there, from party to gathering to special programs, decorating and gift wrapping and candy making, menu planning and extra grocery shopping. 

And we wonder about the joy because we don’t feel it.

We’ve rushed here and there to do the wrong kind of preparing.

This joy isn’t found in a perfectly decorated home or an extravagantly prepared meal or the amount of money spent on the gifts we’re giving or receiving. It isn’t found in all the parties and events and Christmas bonuses.

It’s found in Jesus.

Those other things are just a foretaste of the real kind of joy. The abundant life Jesus came to give us.

We only have to make room in our hearts for him.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.                           John 10:10 (ESV)

Part of the Weekly Photo Challenge

Look

| Marie Griffith

IMG_5398

“I don’t think people care about the sunsets as much as we do.”

That’s what my youngest daughter said to me last night.

I remember thinking something similar when I was a young girl. I was fascinated with whatever I saw when I looked up at the sky and I wondered why no one else talked about it. Couldn’t they see? The colors the sun painted the sky when it filtered through the clouds in the evenings. Or the bright full moon on a winter’s night. Didn’t they notice the way the clouds gathered angrily before a thunderstorm?

And the stars and rainbows and the way lightning streaked across the sky sometimes when there was no storm at all.

I hope I always look up at the sky……..in wonder……..of the One who made it all.image

But when I am walking around in the world unaware of the beauty around me I pray that it gets my attention or even better…..that someone around me says, “Look”.

IMG_5610

 

In response to the Daily Post’s Captivating.

See

| Marie Griffith

Hagar was running away. She was fearful and desperate.

See
Photo by Alex Jones

 

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” Genesis 16

She answered and then He spoke to her. During His speaking Hagar had a revelation. She understood what she hadn’t before.

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Genesis 16

Not only did she realize God saw her. She saw Him. And it changed her forever.

You are not unseen. You are not unknown. You are not unloved.

Every laugh. Every tear. All the joy. All the pain. The victories, the disappointments, your success and your failure.

God sees you. He knows you. He loves you.

Now, look at Him and be changed forever.

See the One who sees you,
Know the One who knows you,
Love the One who loves you.

See the One seeing you,
Know the One knowing you,
Love the One loving you.

The Grocery Store

| Marie Griffith

I was in the grocery store the other day, and I noticed the young girl in line ahead of me.  She was beautiful and so were her tattoos. The tattoos stood out against her pale skin. Her dark hair was blond streaked and pulled back in a sloppy pony tail.  She looked hungry but the only item at the register was a can of baby formula. She clumsily pulled out a wad of dollar bills from the front pocket of her jeans. Some coins fell from the wad of cash and she counted the money until the amount was right. She pushed it toward the cashier. 

The cashier seemed impatient with the girl.  She picked up the cash and put it in the register. The cashier was an older woman with thick, salt and pepper hair swept away from her face.  Her hands were calloused and her skin leathery.

Both women seemed tired. The cashier from standing at her job all day……maybe the younger woman from caring for her children all day. Both seemed heavy with worry, weariness and busyness.  

What I noticed most was their disregard for one another.  They wouldn’t look at each other, neither smiled nor spoke.  No chit-chat between these two when the cashier handed the girl her receipt.   Each was in her own space. 

I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if one of them had said hello? or smiled?   

I’ve done the same thing.  I’ve been too busy to notice those around me. Too tired to smile or too deep in my own world that I didn’t speak.  

How many opportunities have I missed to simply acknowledge another?  To share a smile, an encouraging nod, or a friendly comment? 

I kept trying to catch the young tattooed girl’s eye. I wanted her to know that I saw her but she never looked my way.  

I tried to chat with the cashier but she wasn’t in the mood. 

That’s okay. I saw her. 

I must see those around me.  

How can I love them if I don’t see them?