I'm Watching the World

When I get on the Internet I can watch things all over the world right here from my home in Minnesota. It is rather amazing to think about.

Still, Internet access has become so common, so accessible that I scarcely do think about how incredible it is. But imagine! I can see what is going on across the globe as it is happening.

Today I watched my sister earn her master's degree. As I sat at my kitchen table in the far north, she was being presented with a diploma in Miami, Florida. I had it on live feed via her college's website. It was pretty cool. 

It makes me think how far we have come with technology. Remember when your television was six feet deep, weighed about a ton, and had fuzzy lines through the picture?

Remember putting 45s on the record player?

Remember when pinball machines were popular?

Remember when car phones had to be plugged into the cigarette lighter? And you had to keep the cord in to talk?

Remember when computers were as big as a house?

Now I can hold something in the palm of my hand in Minnesota and watch something live in Florida. 

Unfathomable.

While advances in technology may amaze me, they don't hold a candle to the most amazing global access of all. And there is only One who has it. It is not and never will be attainable by man. It belongs to God and God alone. He is all-seeing, omniscient. Now that is truly amazing!

While I may have been able to watch my sister graduate in Miami, God saw her graduate, saw the hair underneath her graduation cap, and knows exactly how many hairs are on her head! And at the same time He saw everything about my sister, he saw my tears of pride as the ceremony went on 1,500 miles apart.

While I may have be able to hear the crowds cheer each time a new grad's name was called, God heard the first cry at birth, the first giggle, the first heartbreak, the first shout for joy, and every other first for each and every person there today. 

While I may have been able to log on and navigate to the website where I watched my sister's ceremony, God simply looked. Just as He has been looking all along. 

Some people might be worried about God seeing, hearing, knowing everything that happens here on earth. Not me. Even when I do wrong. I'm glad He knows. I'm glad He is the One who knows me from start to finish, inside and out, up and down, good and bad.

I need someone that knows me that way. 

Someone who knows yet still loves me. Imagine. 

Someone who knows every little thing about me, about my sister, about everyone in Minnesota and Florida, about every person on the globe. And still, he loves us. 

Unfathomable.

Keep the Bitter Out

It is cold outside today. I mean don't go out there cold. But here in my home it is snug and warm. Sure, there are drafts here and there, where the frigid creeps in. Those are spots that need to be insulated, blocked, protected.

The weather and my house sort of remind me of the condition of my own life from time to time. Bitterness is out there, waiting to get in. With all my efforts to keep my heart warm and  snug, the biting winds can still seep into my vulnerable areas.

Then: bitterness.

Bitterness is born and raised by a parent called Unforgiving.

I could say that any bitterness I've experienced has been because someone else has done me wrong. And while maybe that is true at times, I don't think that would do me any good. This world is full of wrong. He does it, she does it, they do it. I do it. It's the sad truth.

So within the reality of me and everyone else getting hurt in this life, what are we to do? Forgiveness is the only answer I can come up with that will keep the bitterness out.

I need to insulate, block, protect myself from being unforgiving. That is not to say I promote being a doormat. Letting others walk all over me, wiping their feet on me. But you don't need to be a doormat to get hurt. You just need to be human.

So today, it's cold outside. In nature and in my own life. But, like my home, my heart is snug and warm. I am choosing to forgive. To stuff a chunk of pardon into the spots that need insulating, a piece of mercy in the spots that need to be blocked, and a whole lot of grace in the areas that need protecting.