Look up! What moves you? What motivates you? What sparks your spirit? What stirs your soul? Where do you receive your will to live each day? What awakens you to act or create or respond? Today’s word is INSPIRATION. Where do I get inspiration? Am I being inspired or am I being discouraged by disheartening words and difficult circumstances?
Look up! Don’t let your view be limited. See the expanse above you. See the vastness of space, of the universe. See the colors of the sky, the myriad shades of blue, the sunrise and the sunset. See the light too bright to look at, and the soft light of a full moon, the Milky Way, and infinite stars. Whether day or night, I will lift my eyes to see more. There’s more than what is beneath me. There’s more than what is right in front of me.
Look up! Don’t let others take your confidence or dull your enthusiasm. Don’t be dampened by negative words. The disapproval or approval of those around me should not be what drives me. Too often, I have let myself be pressured by others’ will and expectations. I’ve looked around me instead of looking up. The following words from the 13th century resonate with me today:
“A person who cares nothing for praise or blame knows great inward peace….Praise does not make you holier than you are, nor blame more wicked. You are exactly what you are, and cannot ever be any better or worse than that, in the eyes of God. Attend to what is really within you, then, and you will not care what others say of you. People look at externals, but God looks at the heart. They weigh actions; God knows your intent….To feel no need of human support and assurance is a mark of inward confidence – of those who truly walk with God in their hearts.” (Thomas à Kempis)
Look up! Don’t just peer at the problems exclusively. Don’t be deterred by disadvantages and drawbacks. I may be able to climb over those obstacles on the ground if I lift my head to see a way over. Or there may be something higher waiting to help me fly over. Who knows, I may even see angels and be able to hear them singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth!”
“I lift up my eyes to the hills ~ from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” (Psalm 121: 1-3)
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