The Window Pane

Wow, the dining room window on the east side of the house is dirty!! 

When the sun shown on that window yesterday, I was frustrated because I couldn’t see much beyond the pane.  It’s spring and we should be able to enjoy the beautiful mornings - to enjoy the sun shining on the new green grass, and see the flowers poking their heads up to say hello.

I promised myself I would clean windows last week, and I didn’t.  I threatened to do that yesterday - and I didn’t. So today, I haven’t done it either.  But I have thought about what it means to look at a dirty window, and not what is beyond it.

If you walk out on the front porch, you see the sun, the forsythia bush with its yellow blooms and the grass that’s greening up.  You see small spikes from the bulbs that have been buried all winter, and you smell the fresh morning breeze.  That’s a great start, isn’t it? All because I stopped trying to look through a dirty window and moved out into the world.

     Look beyond dull window glass.

     Yes, look beyond the pane.

     Look beyond perfection’s loss 

     and see more than the stain.

     Look beyond the prickly thorn 

     and smell the yellow rose.   

                    Because

   When we look beyond the cloudiness

    we'll find contentment grows.

We read a bit about that in the Bible.  Paul is talking about peace, and he tells us that the peace comes when we look beyond the negative and think about the good and true and beautiful. 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

I don't know about you, but I sure need to remember that.