¹   To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
²   O my God, in you I trust;
          do not let me be put to shame;
          do not let my enemies exult over me.
³   Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
          let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
⁴   Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
          teach me your paths.
⁵   Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
          for you are the God of my salvation;
          for you I wait all day long.
⁶   Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love,
          for they have been from of old.
⁷   Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
          according to your steadfast love remember me,
          for your goodness’ sake, O LORD!

Take a moment to watch this 40 second video.

This little clip was created by one of my favorite artists, Brian Andreas.  He is the main artist for what is called StoryPeople.  These are great stories of everyday happenings with a bit of quirkiness added in.  What I love about this clip is the reminder to look up every once in a while.  Frequently we need these kind of reminders as we run around, doing cartwheels, or are in meetings all day long and caught up in the work of the world.

As spring approaches, I always get a little more contemplative…it may be the changing of seasons, the season of Lent, or it may be the promise of newness.  i know that I am not the only one.  At the same time, sometimes I forget to take time to look up at the clouds, the most important step in the whole process.

Yesterday I was really bogged down in many things to do. The day became overwhelming as sometimes Mondays do.  I remembered that my youngest brother Colin was to appear in the afternoon and I thought a couple of things.  You see, Colin comes over every Monday night to hang out and catch up.  So I thought to myself that I could probably tell him to come next week and skip this week.  As I sat at my desk deciding how to spend my day, I was going to not go work out and then give up time with Colin.  I also had a few scheduled meetings that were fighting for my attention throughout the day.  As I continued to plan, I had this moment of clarity, of looking up to realize that I can’t give up the moments of healthiness (working out and hanging with little bro) for more stress and cartwheels that leave me dizzy.

What did I do? I went to work out and felt much better after.  Then Colin came over and we had a great time being with each other, running errands, eating food, celebrating International Pi Day (yes, that was yesterday), and then when Colin left I continued on some of my work.  The day turned from a dizzy overwhelming mess to one of looking up a bit.  The Psalmist in Psalm 25 is one of my favorites.  This Psalm celebrates God in a way we can connect to I think.  The Psalmist reminds us to not only look up but to lift our souls up to God.  In God, we learn the healthy pathways.  I also love that the Psalmist asks God to forget the sins of our youth…who doesn’t also think that?  Forget other things God and focus on where we are now.  That may be healthy too.

Remember to look up today.

Peace,

Court