Sky High

Shaun Groves has a wonderful song, "After the Music Fades," in which he declares, "I want to see from Your side of the sky." This line is a beautiful reminder for us to wake up and get moving. It gets right to the heart of perspective, and of everything we need to be.

It's tragically easy to get distracted in this life by the most insignificant things. Most of us spend the majority of our lives wrapped up in our own concerns, absorbed in the futile yet frequent ritual of worrying. And what do we worry about, typically? World hunger? Terrorism? The moral degeneration of western media? No—unless I'm a raving exception (and although I likely am raving, I don't believe I'm an exception), we're wasting our time thinking about unimportant, temporal things. I don't know about you, but I'm busy thinking about that paper I have to write, or that person that I want to meet for lunch, or any other of the many things I have to remember to do with the guy at the place. The point is, we're digging ourselves early graves, and here's the kicker—we don't have to be!

I remember being struck by a song in church earlier this year—unfortunately, the strike didn't really stick—that said "All around you, lives are broken, and Christ has no hands but yours!" I remember how surprised I was to hear such a seemingly pessimistic statement uttered in a church hymn. But on second glance, perhaps it is merely realistic. How many people do you know who are truly happy? I don't just mean they have what they want; I'm talking about true, consistent happiness, the kind of happiness that has transcended emotion and has become character, a scrappy, spirited happiness that is never down for long, and rarely gets down in the first place. How many like that are in your life? Maybe two or three? What does that say about the majority of people? In the midst of all the abundance of a country as prosperous as America, almost everyone you know is at least somewhat unhappy. That's tragic, and yet it's understandable. They're not unhappy for no reason. Their lives are broken. Life is so often filled with suffering. We don't talk about it much, because it's easier and less painful to keep it inside. But tragedy strikes in so many ways, every day. Happiness is a constant battle, and it is all too easy, and almost even understandable, to stop fighting for it, to extinguish the gleam of hope that glimmers in the eye of every hopeful soul.

And that's why those of us who have not been utterly ravaged by tragedy, as well as those who have been ravaged but have gotten up to fight on, must once again clarify our purpose and redouble our efforts. Lives are broken, and we need to fix them.

I know for a fact that I fell off the wagon this year. I lost perspective, and after getting so wrapped up in temporal ambitions and day-to-day goals, I found that, when perspective once again lit up the labyrinthine path of life, I had nearly forgotten this all-important mission, to repair the brokenness of the world through presence of mind, love of God, and love of neighbor. I know that I could have spared myself much unneeded and fruitless concern if I had only been mindful enough to remember that I'm not here to make friends, or to meet girls, or to eat my favorite foods. Although all of those things have their place at life's banquet table, the ultimate purpose for us here is to help one another meet God before it's all over, so that we don’t come to the end of this show and realize we never even talked to the Director.

That's why perspective is so important—it brings us back to the starting point, one might say the Origin, from which, for which, and through which we accomplish all good ends. My flash of enlightened perspective (for which I am still thanking God) was caused and is summed up by this excerpt from another church hymn, a versed adaptation of Isaiah 61:1 (which is also referenced in Luke 4:18):

The Spirit of the Lord is now upon me
To heal the broken heart and set the captives free
To open prison doors and make the blind to see
The Spirit of the Lord is now on me…

This, then, is our mission statement, for all those who truly believe. As Chris Rice says, "Go light your world!" It's up to you to make all things new. Remember to nurture that hopeful starlight that shines in your eyes, and one day it will once again meet its heavenly Source.

God Bless!

Joezilla