“A
friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand.
Is not the mountain more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing
through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?” Khalil Gibran
When
we were finally able to take a vacation to New York City a few years ago, my
family and I were awed and overwhelmed with our first glimpse of the Statue of
Liberty. Being able to see it from so far away was a treat itself, but
floating by underneath her feet on a boat left me almost entirely
speechless. It was misty raining that day and the water was a little
choppy as I recall, so I had this vision of what it must have looked like to
those who floated into New York harbor from other lands and were greeted by
this larger-than-life image of American idealism for the very first time.
And it blew my mind that residents of NYC could be so cavalier about the Statue
(at least those I spoke with), but seeing something everyday makes it easy to
make that thing which inspires so many to become virtually invisible.
It
happens that way too often with our friends, our children, our parents, our
spouses; but it is truly as so often expressed: we never really appreciate what
we have until we no longer have it. This may be attributed to the
busy-ness of our lives when we are rushed from point A to point B with only the
thought of whatever task is before us; getting to the next meeting, getting to
the next activity, getting to work on time, getting home to prepare supper.
So it is that we become so overwhelmed with chores and schedules, we lose our
awe for that which we often pass right by without notice. The Lord
and His Church and the Bible sitting on the night stand are no exceptions.
Let
us not be so overwhelmed with our day-to-day busy-ness that we become
underwhelmed by that which truly gives life and meaning even to those mundane
things we so easily take for granted. Let us renew our commitment to
Sabbath and worship. Let us renew the Friendship which gave real purpose
to our very existence so that we stop taking for granted those things and
persons in our lives that really do matter, those things and persons which
teach us that Life itself is always bigger than we will ever be.
Blessings,
Michael
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