DeacPost “Things Right Before Our Eyes”

Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we. 2 Corinthians 10:7 (NRSV)

Lately I’ve been paying attention to little things that I’ve been missing. An ant crawling across the cement near my back door. Branches and leaves on the trees in the woods next to my house which seem to each have their own way of bending in the wind. I’ve begun to realize things I’ve been missing: nature’s mystery and beauty and God’s presence in them — things that are right in front of me.

Observing and contemplating on these things has become a conscious practice. It is modeled after the Desert Fathers of antiquity. For these monks in the early church, contemplative practice was vitally important to extending their lives in community. In 2 Corinthians, Paul reminds the Corinthian Congregation — and us — that being confident in our belonging to Christ extends to realizing that others do too. We are to look at what is right in front of us. Contemplation on the little things, which are God’s works, can help us to see what is right before our eyes and extend our lives into all of God’s world — to not only our community but the whole human family. We all belong to Christ. It is good to contemplate on that, too.

Prayer: God, open our eyes to what is right in front of us — your whole creation and all in your family with whom you would have us be in community; through the grace of Jesus the Christ. Amen

Deacon Student Matthew Petersen, Cincinnati, OH

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