Washing Windows

In the early mornings, I have a routine of going downstairs, sitting in the still and quiet closed coffee shop and slowly wake up with the sunrise and a short cup of long drawn espresso.  This summer, I found myself looking out the french doors and wide windows with increasing discouragement and disappointment. The pandemic, the riots, the spinning of news for political agendas, the divided nation, and my lack of ability to do much of anything was really getting me down.  The world on the other side of the windows just seemed to be getting uglier and uglier.

Then one day Kasity came down, saw the morning sun’s reflection off all the bug guts, dirty rain residue, and hand prints and said simply, “Ugh, we really need to clean the windows.”  After spraying and wiping the windows clean enough for a bird to fly into, I sat back down and considered the difference.  

The unkempt residue of the grubbiness of life had built up so much on the windows I was looking at the world through I couldn’t tell the difference between the world’s mess and my own.  With clean windows, the sunrise was a sunrise, not a blinding glare off the muddy marks of time.  With clean windows, I can see the birds waking up and flirting with each other from the power line to the tree tops.  With clean windows, it's easier to see determination in the eyes of morning walkers and joggers.  With a clean perspective, I can see clearly the street we call home - where hard working men and women are adapting to the pandemic, good people are looking out for each other regardless of race, income, reputation or political affiliation, and there are no protests, riots or fires.  

It got me thinking that maybe my eyes need a cleaning, too.  Romans 12: 2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  After a prayer for clean perspective and a moment of quiet paying attention, renewal is real and worthwhile.  It became clear as my windows that part of my discouragement and disappointment was the natural effect of rolling my daybreak eyes in newsfeeds and social media rather than Scripture and the immediate world around me.

How we see the world determines how we treat it.  How we treat it, it often becomes.  How we see people determines how we treat them.  How we treat them, they often become.  Start your day with some Windex.  And renew your perspective by asking for God’s eyes.  He sees it all and STILL says, “Rejoice.”  
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things.” -Psalm 119: 18

“Open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins (WINDEX!) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” - Acts 26: 18

“Have the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you.” -Ephesians 1:18

“The eye is the lamp of the body.  So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” -Matthew 6: 22

SEE you at the watering hole.