Blur

July 15, 2020

Sometimes we race so much that we do not have time to train.

Despite the life changes that have come for all of us in the wake of COVID 19, do you feel like you are still traveling at light speed? After months of being holed up with loved ones, the intimacy has grown stale, the family hearth a dearth of comfort; true respite a rarity?

In some ways, as humans we tend towards busyness no matter what the context. We may commute an hour across the multi lanes of the Beltway in Washington, DC, or we may drive the 5 minutes to the barn in SLO, California… but in both cases, fast enough is still never fast enough.

In short, life is a blur. And the truth might just be that we like it like that.

Then, we don’t need to face up to the realities of the strained relationship, or to the nuances of the power struggle with the teenage brain which ever plays itself out in our homes… or with the very fundamentals of our running form. If we run fast enough, our form will fix itself. Or will it? If we live life at the dizzying pace we lure ourself into, all of our problems will dissipate. Or will they? If we ignore reality, it will change. Or will it?

The bottom line is that we like to squint when we look into the light. We’d rather not see it in too stark a relief. We like to don the shades when we take to the beach. That extra tinted lens dulls the reality of what is, just enough to enable us to hide just a bit. We don’t want to walk out into the light. The we’ll see ourselves as we truly are.

But the alluring blur will not heal us. Our self-perception is not the hallmark of our inner character. Only God sees full view; only God sees our inmost character and knows the sturdiness of our integrity.

Somewhere in the good book, it says that when we walk in the light, he will cleanse us of all iniquities. (1John 1:7)

Hey – the blur is beautiful; the busyness is intoxicating; the final kick to the finish is all dazzling screams and excitement. But maybe, just maybe we need more training, more slowing down, more praying, more being still, more hours beside the quiet waters. My prayer for you tonight is that you take a moment to look up at the crystal clear skies and give thanks to our glorious savior and redeemer who lives in unapproachable light. Then, perhaps, we will see what we are meant to see in the blur of existence – each individual color, and each brushstroke and each PERSON who makes this life so truly wondrous. May the God of the universe richly bless you tonight!