Blind Blessings

Sometimes seeing the same old thing with new fresh eyes makes all the difference.  Today we woke up to our first Kentucky "snowfall".  I use the word lightly since I know my PA friends reading this blog will chuckle at my pictures and refer to our freshly-fallen white stuff as a dusting or other some such description.  In fact, last year, I wouldn't have counted it because it didn't lay on the pavement (for some reason, that was my self-imposed barometer of what could count as a snowfall).

Picture of Asbury Theological Seminary by Cody Swoboda

But this year, when I woke up and saw the layer of white covering most of what my eyes could see, it might as well have been two feet.  Because I wasn't looking with Pennsylvania eyes.  I wasn't even looking with Kentucky eyes.  This time, I was looking with Singaporian eyes and Florida eyes and Zambian eyes.  I was looking through the eyes of my new friends who have NEVER seen snow in their life except for in movies and on television. 


At 6:50 am, I looked across the cul-de-sac to my Singaporian neighbors who were all outside, bundled up like Eskimos, touching the snow, throwing it, holding it, tasting it and taking pictures of it.  They were laughing and freezing and even though I was far away, I could feel their tangible sense of awe, wonder and joy.  Soon my facebook feed lit up with statuses from my southern friends with pictures of our dusting and smiles on their faces.  Words like "SNOW!!!!" and "This really happens outside of Florida" began to fill the pages.  The excitement over what I would have brushed aside as "not real" was contagious.  The bus stop was dizzy with excitment.  Snowballs were thrown, laughter was shared, and many, many pictures were taken by my Southern friends.

Ah, my friends, how often do we miss the blessings that are right in front of our eyes?  How much of our mundane life do we dismiss as "not real" when in truth we are living a miracle?  How many of us can tell stories of how we were blessed financially, or maybe by barely escaping an accident, or by surviving a health crisis, and then at the same time wonder if we'll ever get to see a "real" miracle?  Has life become so routine that we forget to stand in wonder and awe over the incredible blessings we are surrounded with daily?  Our faith alone gives us reason to sing and shout!  Have you been around someone who has come to a new understanding of God?  They fairly leak with excitement over verses you learned in Sunday school and barely skim over as you do your daily readings.  The concepts of Scriptures that are familiar to you, they can barely wrap their heads around.  And that is as it should be, because we should always be at a place of wonder and awe as we consider the mystery of God and His Love.  But are we?  Or is it just part of our life now?

I heard comedian Louis C.K. once on Conan O'Brien share this sentiment through a simple piece called, "Everything is AMAZING and nobody is happy."  He specifically talked about the concept of flight and how "everyone who flies on an airplane should just constantly be going 'Oh my gosh, I'm flying, I'm sitting in a chair IN THE SKY!'"  But then he goes on to say how people instead just complain the chair doesn't go back far enough, and it's smelly and there are delays at the airport.

But, don't I do that too?  Do I really take the time to "see" the blessings around me?  My house is warm, I have clothes to wear, my kids are healthy,  my husband loves God, my car runs, I have running water, I have WATER... and as you know, the list can go on and on and on.  Sometimes I think I need new eyes.  Eyes that see the simple beauty in the things I normally shrug off or, sadder still, complain about.

This was not the biggest snowfall I've ever seen.  It wasn't the prettiest.  It wasn't the most fun.  But honestly, I think it will be the most memorable.  Because I saw it again for the first time.  And something about seeing it that way, makes this snowfall more than a dusting and more than a inconsequential moment. And as always I cannot help but remember these beautiful words from Isaiah, "Come now, let us settle the matter, says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool."  Now that.. that is way cooler than flying!