Perspectives

I often spend time in my beautiful ancestral home, -Swansea. The place I stay in is on the 9^th floor, with a commanding view of the bay, the marina, and the old docks on the east side of the town, where I was born. Looking from that high place, I take in that view which brings my childhood back into focus. I can see further from there, than I ever could from my bedroom window as a child.

            In a balanced life we need both the focussed detail and the big picture; the microscope and the wide-angle lens. Holidays give me an opportunity for the wider picture, because I have more time to reflect, at a little distance from the detail of every-day life and its responsibilities.  And the higher we go, the greater perspective we can obtain, helping us to see things in a different scale, as I discovered when I looked at my same home town from the 26^th floor of a different building.

That higher perspective can help us get our mind round something that is difficult to see clearly, close up. It offers a time to consider things such as:

 

            Holidays are also a time to pray for the minute details of situations that really matter: e.g. health, career, education and relationship challenges and choices that we, and those we love, have to make. They give us time to clear the mind during a long walk, or a quiet hour at sunset, or, (if that’s what helps you), a bungee jump!  Holidays are opportunities for our rest, relaxation and recreation, -re-creating the peace of mind and confidence we all need. Of course, they can be fraught, too, if we’re on holiday with 4 children, Granny and the dog! But even that sort of chaos brings its own opportunities for reflective learning.

            Jesus didn’t have bank holidays, but he often took time to withdraw. And he frequently took to higher ground. He used those times to pray, -we know that. But I suspect some of it was just to relax and re-charge his very human batteries, too, and to look at life from a higher perspective, -a Godly perspective.

            May you enjoy doing the same.

           

            Dear Heavenly Father, here I am in a different place from usual, with a bit more time on my hands. Help me to use it well. Take me to that higher ground of your Presence, from where you can help me see more clearly, and get things in perspective. Show me more of the life you want me to live and the way you want me to live it. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.