Perspective
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! We made it through 2020. Goodness gracious is was a trying year. It taught us many things - some good (how to use zoom), some bad (racism is alive and well). It showed our strength as we prayed together. It showed our courage as we faced a pandemic. It showed us, once again, that the Holy Spirit continued to inspire us and that God is ever-present. It showed us life is fragile and shouldn’t be taken for granted. It showed us truth is important. It showed us that we matter. For what will go down in my memory as the darkest year of my lifetime, this “unprecedented” year showed a remarkable amount of light. I suppose it depends upon how I look at it.
Perspective is a wondrous thing. How we look at something or someone changes us, and sometimes changes someone else. In AA, we say the Lord’s Prayer at the end of a meeting. A while back, I went into liver failure. When that happens, your skin turns an awful shade of yellow/green. People notice. After a long time in the hospital, I was able to go home and I went to AA one evening. When we got to the end, no one would hold my hand as we prayed. They saw my skin color and I suppose they were afraid I was catchy. I went home in tears. Two days later, I went to church. When it came time to say the Lord’s Prayer, I purposely didn’t reach out my hands. I didn’t think I could stomach another rejection. But the people sitting next to me grabbed my hand and we prayed together. They saw beyond my skin tone and their fear of it and joined me in their community. That moment, those perspectives, changed me. I went from feeling alone and ostracized to feeling a part of and welcomed. Now, I am very conscious that when I meet someone, I look them in the eye, smile at them (even under my mask), and make sure they know I noticed they were there. I don’t want people to feel alone or ostracized - it’s a horrible feeling.
As children of God, knowing that we are holy and beloved, we still have choice in how we see things, how we explain things, how we act. We can choose to be positive or negative. We can choose to be inclusive or exclusive. We can choose hope or hopelessness. Sometimes bad things choose us, and the only thing we have control over is our response. I have been accused of being a “Pollyanna” before. Not only did I not accept that characterization of myself, I found it to be extremely funny. If you know my story, you know that my life has been anything but storybook or pollyanna. I got street creds folks! But what I will accept is the accusation of seeing things through the perspective of my faith, hope, and love.
2021 holds promise, as does every New Year. We can see the distribution of a vaccine to this horrible Covid-19 begin and we can hold hope that by summertime this isolation may be over. Our government in changing and we can hope this means that new community and relief will be created. We can see the end to pandemic business closings, school closings, and fun closings and hope for a resurgence of normalcy in our lives. We can see the end of isolation and hope for the possibility of actually hugging one another, and singing with one another, and loving one another in person.
Our perspective matters. I happen to choose to look at the world from the perspective of someone who believes that through all this darkness, God has indeed showed us light; in these times of loneliness and isolation, God has never left my side. I choose to believe that who we have been created to be is not only enough, but that we are necessary for God’s plan. I choose to believe God answers when I pray “I believe, help me in my unbelief.” I choose to believe, eventually, Love ALWAYS wins, because in my limited lifetime and experiences, it always has.
What’s your perspective on the New Year?
