Scripture:
I raise my eyes to you— you who rule heaven.
Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand, just as the eyes of a female servant attend to her mistress’ hand— that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God until he has mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy because we’ve had more than enough shame.
We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident, more than enough shame from the proud.
Reflection:
When I walk, I look down out the ground, always wary of an unanticipated object which might lead me to trip - or that I might trip over my own two feet. In and of itself, this is not a bad habit, but it does occasionally lead to me running into doorframes, catching clothes on drawer pulls, or not seeing people as they walk by. And - ridiculously - I always blame the doorframe, as if it jumped out into my path - instead of acknowledging the fault lies with my own eyesight. Turns out when your eyes are on your own feet, it’s hard to see the world around you.
This happens with God, too. We get so used to looking at God in a particular way we can’t see all the other ways we might be able to experience God. When our eyes are trained on the solid ground underneath of us, we miss parts of God’s story which might be just to the right of our shoulder. And when, every once in a while, we run into the doorframe of our limited understanding, we blame the frame instead of asking if maybe we had been looking in the wrong spots all along.
Cast up your eyes a bit from your own life experiences or frames of reference and you might be able to see God’s grace and mercy in unexpected places.
Response:
Spend a little time today naming the frameworks through which you see the world. Where are your eyes cast? Don’t judge yourself or criticize your habits or assumptions, but simply name them so you can be aware of where your eyes are cast as you walk through your day.
Prayer:
God, I’m so used to watching my own feet, trying not to trip. Forgive me for blaming the world when I’m the one looking down. Lift my chin up today. Help me stop over-focusing on my own path so I can finally see Your grace waiting just around the corner. Amen.
