Take a breath

It's not too late, folks. It's never too late.

Singer/songwriter Brandon Heath says it this way in Give Me Your Eyes

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see,

Everything that I keep missing,

Give your love for humanity.

Give me your arms for the broken-hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach.

Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.

Give me your eyes so I can see.

Without doubt or question, there are people around you this morning who are hurting inside and you don't know it. You've never seen the damage life has done to them.

There are people out there this morning who are hungry and have no money, who are thirsty and have no means, who are imprisoned and this day is just like yesterday which will be like tomorrow.

As a writer I got into more deeply the past couple days wrote, "Somewhere out there is an elderly woman who feels as if everyone has forgotten her. Her world has shrunk to her small apartment, the weekly trips to the grocery store, and the visits to the doctor's office. Her television has become her best friend. She doesn't know it, but right now a nearby congregation has awakened to the calling of God to invite people like her to a weekly lunch and a chance to serve others. Soon she'll use her long-neglected skills to knit baby blankets that will wrap medical supplies bound for Central America, and this taste of comma it will save her life and give her a rebirth she never imagined possible."

Imagine sitting in a field of daisies (hey, it's my image). The earth below is damp to the touch as the dew begins to bake the ground. The smell of flowers is pungent and more than a little delightful. Take a deep breath in, hold it........and breathe out slowly. Do it again. Listen to the blaring silence.

Now, let God open your eyes. See with His eyes.

There's the woman down your street with two kids and no husband because he packed up and left for another woman. She's trying to wrangle the kids, take the groceries out of the back of the car, and keep her sanity as well as her car keys.

There's the teenager who rides up and down your street on a skateboard but if you truly look at him, you'll notice he's always alone. Always. He’s playing with loneliness the likes of which you’ll never know perhaps.

There's the black man, the Asian woman, the Hispanic child, the person down your street who is scrambling to understand his same sex desires, the person down your street who is so much in debt the only way out is somehow cashing in on his life insurance for his wife. Think, think, listen, listen, love, love.

The person living next you has anger issues that threaten those around him, the person you work with who gambles late into the night on the internet, the boss you’ve known for 10 years who has an addiction to pornography, the woman at your drive through bank window who lost a child she had grown to love though she never knew him or her, the boy who needs a father like flowers need rain.

The hurting are every where we are.

Wait. Wait. Don’t get up. Breathe deeply of that which is the Spirit wind. Like a tornado of guidance and direction, let Him fill the space that is, blowing away ignorance and indifference to others.

Open your eyes and quit thinking religion. Let the mind of God open the eyes of humanity, as the tears of God washes away our apathy to the plight of others.

In our nation, under God the pledge says, we have Republicans who are apparently too busy to attend a great remembrance of courage against hatred and Democrats who are too stubborn to simply show up when the leader of God's chosen people comes to town.

We disagree on everything and nothing gets done.

Now, think these words: "I will thank God because he is just. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. ... O Lord, our God, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength ... When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers -- the moon and the stars you set in place -- what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?"

But He does.  More than we can imagine, even in a distant field of daisies.