“THEY’RE BEAUTIFUL AREN’T THEY”?
image courtesy of photobucket.com
There’s red, and then there’s red… Lucky for me red is my favorite color. Maybe it’s not a coincidence? Sometimes my sensory gauge will fade to yellow, but not as much as others is my guess. White? Fuh-getta-bot-it! I only see white when I”m sleeping… and even then sometimes the world behind my closed eyelids is a supernatural world of vivid red battles.
The colors represent a mindset, red being on extreme alert, ready for danger. Yellow is paying attention, just in case of something unexpected, and white is peaceful relaxation with zero sense of danger. Even though informed or taught, these senses have been alive and well my entire life. Too alive and well I’m afraid…
This is like everything else in life. It’s a built-in gift from God but taken too far can be taxing – on everyone close enough to us to know the world we live inside. I think most of us have weaknesses, yes there’s something for all of us. Some of us seem to have more weaknesses than others, but weaknesses and tendencies all the same.
The troubling part of our weaknesses, beyond the obvious, pondered here on a regular basis, is the part that rarely gets touched upon; the other loss… the things we miss along the way. The simple gifts that we take for granted.
Tommy Lee Jones has a line in the movie Men In Black. It was the most intriguing part of the entire movie for me. Just before the senior Man In Black reveals to Will Smith, the rookie MIB that he has been training as his replacement, he gives a great rendition of a man burned out from the daily stress of his job and life.
The Man In Black looks tired, exasperated, he looks spent as he desperately looks to the night sky and gazes fully upon the stars of the night. He then asks a question to his partner and himself, “They’re beautiful aren’t they”? The rookie MIB looks around confused, in a hurry… He can’t see the beauty… He’s on the hamster wheel of life… Kinda like the majority of us in real life…
God’s gift and beauty surround us and yet we won’t see them or recognize them. Our perspectives have been poisoned by society, betrayed by our very own senses. A good number of us are pushing through life with our built in cautionary alarms set to yellow in anticipation of red alert.
We see the person cutting us off, cutting in line, taking any advantage of any other person that they can, as they too rush through life on red alert. We stress to be the best we can be for ourselves, for our children, for our spouse, for the pride and ego of doing our lives well.
The lights of our alarms blind us to the weaknesses of those insecure people in our lives trying to win, struggling to feed their ego, fulfill their pride… the same things we can’t see or don’t want to see in ourselves.
The wise among us see and experience the beauty and gifts from God all around us. Have you seen the stars in the night sky lately? They are beautiful aren’t they? It might be time to reset our internal color alert system. The bright light of God is where we find rest and through those eyes the world has a different look.
That perspective will give us a completely different look as well…
The look of love…
Friday, March 2, 2012 @ 12:31 am
Were all guilty of letting the world & daily life rob the beauty, blessing & simplicity of things around us. When our eyes are on Jesus it brings clarity. There is a song by Keith Green… “I want to thank you Lord for being patient with me, it’s so hard to see when my eyes are on me…” Or your family/friends/work/daily grind…. I guess when you put God first everything else falls into place & we have a clearer picture & better perceptive, everything is just better. Less red & yellow! I stray too much & it makes life so much more difficult than it has to be. lol
Friday, March 2, 2012 @ 7:06 am
Well said Sherri, thanks. You’re words and wisdom are beyond your years.
Friday, March 2, 2012 @ 8:23 am
I like the hamster on the wheel metaphor. It’s so true. We spend so much time working, working, working, looking to the future, trying to get everywhere as fast as we can and we often forget to “stop and smell the roses”. Great reminder, thanks! 🙂
Friday, March 2, 2012 @ 8:50 am
Thanks April, I have to remind myself quite often..
Friday, March 2, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
Lots of thought in this post!
Color me yellow when it comes to fighting! Color me red if someone attacks my children or my family. Color me purple when the royal robes are placed around me. Color God White Light so bright that we must cover our eyes because his presence causes us to fall before him.
Saturday, March 3, 2012 @ 5:21 pm
Wow! Well said Hazel! Color me a little more enlightened due to your words!
Saturday, March 3, 2012 @ 11:58 am
I’m always on alarm against anything. It comes with being skeptical of the world 😉
I try to catch this stuff, though I must admit that I’m better at it during the summer than I am in the winter. This frozen tundra is a gray and brown mess not worth looking at right now. Give me some green and flowers and I’ll take note.
Hope you’re well, friend!
Saturday, March 3, 2012 @ 5:22 pm
Thanks Jake! Yeah, I’m good. You need to take another trip south, warm up a bit! It’s beautiful here and we got extra room!
Monday, March 5, 2012 @ 2:23 pm
“Our perspectives have been poisoned by society, betrayed by our very own senses.” Very profound – and with this lies our troubles. God meant for His kids to operate with the Mind of Christ rather than by our own thoughts or information. We are to put on Christ – a new perspective that sticks with us like our clothing. We are instructed to “put off” this or “lay aside” that as far as flesh goes….I wonder why. Puny, unmanageable, flesh. It can only work when it is led of the Spirit.
Randy and I took a last minute break this weekend and drove to the Coast near Monterey. We walked for miles, took lots of pix, prayed, & talked. We rarely get to run away, but were thankful. We’ve got too many animals to leave for long, but our son watched over things and collected eggs….LOL!
Anyway, while I was being thankful for the shore, the waves, the birds, the view, the quiet, a thought HIT me. What if a group of rowdy bikers arrived att he same place…..? How would I be then? Would I still stay in worship…in peace? I concluded that I might be temped to be annoyed, but that, overall, it should not affect me in my spirit. God’s peace should still rule my mind and heart, right? Wondered if my perspective could remain thankful. Will continue to work on that some more… 😉
Monday, March 5, 2012 @ 6:29 pm
Good for you and Randy. That’s a good reminder for me to do the same. Maybe God is the reason the bikers didn’t show up? He is good to us and always knows exactly what we need. Putting off the flesh is the key, that’s where getting beyond ourselves in Him really counts. Glad you guys got away. Thanks Nancy.