How often do you look up?
No, this isn’t (just) a spiritual question, it’s exactly as it seems. How often do you look up each day?
When you’re outside going about your business, how often do you raise your eyes heavenward and see what’s going on above your head? I ask, because when we don’t look up, we can miss an awful lot of beauty.
Several years ago, when I lived in London, I was walking to work one day and looked up on my journey (I can’t remember why I did) and noticed a really interesting piece of graffiti. Now while I appreciate that graffiti is not everyone’s cup of tea, I really liked it and slowed down to take it in. It obviously had an impact as I’m writing about it all these years later, but I think the fact that made it so memorable was that I came across it by surprise. It felt almost like I’d been let into a little secret that only a few others might have known about. From that moment on I decided that I would regularly cast my eyes up and see what interesting things I could see.
Since then I’ve noticed all sorts of interesting and beautiful things, whether natural or man-made. From hidden artwork, to animals both common and exotic, to other people, to interesting locations and more.
It’s such a joy to be able to see these things and is a reminder that God’s glory is on display everywhere, even when we can’t (or don’t) see it.
So next time you’re out and about, cast your eyes up and you might be amazed at what you see.
‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?’
Job 12: 7-10
Photograph: Jo Coenen – Studio Dries 2.6
