See the Goodness of the Lord -- Day Nine

I saw a whole new perspective yesterday thanks to the miracle of modern flight. It was a gloomy, rainy, grey day in Indiana. A day that can, if you're a moody sort like I am, just drag you down.

Then I boarded the little jet heading to DC and up through the clouds we soared. As we broke through the cottony greyness, the brilliance of the sun broke through. A whole new vista unfolded beneath and above me. The grey clouds hiding the sun from the surface where I had just been, were actually lit up bright, like a snowy field on a sunny winter day. And the sky was crystal clear. The mood on the plane lifted, folks spirits seemed lighter. Ah, maybe I'm projecting a bit, but that's how it felt to me.

So I spent some time, especially as we passed the peak descent time and started down, looking out the window and watching the clouds -- clouds that looked thick enough to walk across started breaking up, like winter ice on a spring stream. The landscape then broke through and I could watch the trees below me catch the light coming through the breaks in the clouds.

I landed a happier man than I was when I took off (not that that is unusual -- landing always makes me happier) thanks to the the great light that was above the clouds.

And, though you'll not be surprised by this observation, I thought how like life this is. I forget to see beyond the clouds. I forget that the sun is shining. I see only what feels like reality to me ... and the reality is that it is dark and dim and full of despair. My sight remains horizontal and forgets to look vertically -- to where the Sun is shining, where the Light is coming from. Don't forget to consider changing your perspective, Brent, I told myself looking out the plane window. The sun shines even if you don't see it. God is good, even when you don't feel it.

Indeed.

-- Brent