Using a Remembrance

   How to begin this is the question. How do you take a lot of input, from various sources, and condense it into a short narrative, especially when there is so much out there that might be said?

   So, I take a portion of a verse, a line from an old hymn and a 20 year old memory and try to get a coherent thought out of the whole thing.

   A portion of a verse from Matthew 20:

"They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened"

   A line from an old hymn, sung many times in church, and today presented as part of the Moravian Daily Reading:

"till we cast our crowns before thee
 lost in wonder, love and praise"

   Then a memory of a day in July many years ago, in the midst of a college course at Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, GA.

   Dr. Donovan Graham, one of my favorite teachers at the college, had us perform an unusual exercise as part of our curriculum. He called it an "awe and wonder "day, and it was life-changing for me.

   After we settled into class that day, he asked us to listen to a short tape entitled "Awe and Wonder". It was a powerful message centered on the majesty of God's creation all around us. Then he asked us to take only a notebook and pencil and spend two hours out on the campus, by ourselves, and observe, then write down our thoughts in whatever form God gave us in that time.

   Covenant is situated on a picturesque campus, on top of the mountain, and, even to be outside on a mild July morning in that place, was a treat. To have two hours to contemplate was heaven itself, and so I did. I even ended up writing a poem, which is not me by a long shot.

   So, how does all of this fit together? Let me see if I can do it justice.

   My prayer as I began this June day in 2013, was to open my eyes and let me see what You have for me today. Help me not to miss those things that You want to show me, both through the eyes and through Your thoughts in my mind. So the words of the two blind men in the verse above fit right in.

   Then there were the words in the hymn that hit me. I thought of my photo hobby that has caused me to be more observant of the things around me, and as I walked out I reminded myself to look and then think about what my eyes beheld. The word "wonder" from the line in the hymn was on my mind as I walked and looked, and then I recalled that day in college.

   Yes, I want to see what God has out there for me, both in nature and in relationships. I want to be awed by what he reveals to me through my eyes, and I am at times, but as I relived those few minutes, in that class, on that day, I am in awe of how that experience still has an affect in my life today.

   So, I have to add another prayer this morning, "God, thank You for today and for the remembrances of an important time in my life, but help me not to just stop with remembering, but see You in all of this, Amen."