As I crossed over the boardwalk this morning, I met a woman taking a photograph from the walk, focusing on a giant stump half buried in the sand. I offered to take a picture of her on the walk, but she declined. I couldn’t help but look at the stump from her perspective. It was something I’d often photographed before, but always from the end of the walk, never from the high bridge over the dune. Suddenly the stump looked new and fresh, as if I’d never noticed it before. The change in angle and height had given me a different understanding and appreciation of what I’d come to take for granted. How easy it is to be blind to the familiar gifts that surround us each day, to fail to value the people closest to us who share our lives. Please help me, Lord, to walk through my day with eyes newly opened; help me see your world and the people in my life from a fresh perspective, loving both them and you more as a consequence. Amen.
