This is the last in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it, and now Thanksgiving Day is here. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced have not necessarily been in any particular order. I hope the series has been of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic has taken a swan dive.
It just occurred to me now that there is a small irony to this 20th and final post in this series. The topic being Vision. 20/20. Get it? Eh? Anyhow…
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained….
I think a lot about vision. It truly is amazing what it means that God has given us eyes to see. My grandfather who I never met (not the one I wrote about here) was stricken with macular degeneration and lost his eyesight in his later years. His son Jack – my mom’s half-brother – made a remarkable story of his life despite his own blinding handicap.
You don’t know how many times I have been reminded of the genetic inheritance of this condition. Without genetic testing, I have no way of knowing whether I might be affected someday. It seems less likely as time passes. Despite all my physical foibles, I have been blessed with remarkable vision. More than once have I taken pride in reading the sign from a distance that no one else could.
But then I realize what indeed it is: pride. Am I the only one who battles with pride on the silliest, most trivial things?
Anyway, I continually return to the place of thanking God for excellent physical vision – wondering as one who reads voraciously, both off the printed page and the computer screen, how long it will last. The more I have thought about it recently, the more it fills me with gratitude. It’s part of the reason I saved this installment for the final one.
At the same time, I also am grateful for something far more important: the small glimpses of spiritual vision that He grants. The more I’ve taken the time to ponder and write this series, the more I have realized how much we all desperately need the perspective, the eyes, the vision of gratitude to our Creator and Savior. This kind of perspective, just as one timely example.
I hope you’ll join me today in taking time to humbly thank God for the rich blessings He has bestowed. I wrote about 20 things I’m thankful for — with time, I could write about 20 more. And perhaps some day soon I will.
May God bless you and yours. Have a terrific Thanksgiving. Savor the moment. Reflect on what it’s all about:
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
Pleasures pure and undefiled,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.For each perfect gift of thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.For thy Church which evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.
[…] #20 – Vision […]