In 2014--Let's Open Our Eyes

This window is one of the Old Testament windows
 at the First  Baptist Church, Clemson, SC.

One of my favorite writers is a Roman Catholic priest , Richard Rohr. He’s written I don’t know how many books—but I first discovered him though his book, Falling Upward—which a friend gave me for Christmas. I just finished reading another of his books, Everything Belongs. I recommend both volumes. But one of his quotes from Everything Belongs sticks in my head—maybe heart too. He wrote: “All the bushes burn now if you have seen one burn.”

Seems like pretty good advice for a new year. Most of us get preoccupied with Washington or some personal family problem that weighs us down. And we spend all our time obsessing on this or that. Mostly that. And in the meantime all around us there are bushes burning that we never see,.

What would have happened to Moses—or not happened—if he had not seen that bush blaze in the wilderness. And what would have happened to that fledgling group called the people of God if he had not opened his eyes that ordinary afternoon. 

Don’t you think the memory of that hot, dusty golden day in the desert kept Moses going. We all need a nudge some days. Not just to get out of bed but to stumble through whatever it is we have to do. Mostly tedious, boring and just have-to stuff. Maybe not too different from herding stubborn sheep.

Yet—all around us something real and right and true is happening. I try to keep remembering those “once upon a time...” experiences that make life dazzling and real and right. So put your thinking cap on. Ponder the mystery. Bushes burn. Even in your neighborhood. Despite where you are or what you do.

“All the bushes burn now if you have seen one burn.” So—open the door—look around you. Who knows—you, me—all of us might find enough to keep us going. 

                --rogerlovette/ rogerlovette.blogspot.com