Looking Up

Posted by: L.E.S. on: March 13, 2014

• In: Everyday Life | Faith
• 2 Comments

Another snowfall blanketed the capital last night. My husband had to run the snow blower as soon as he got home, and the two of us managed to shovel where the blower couldn’t be run and clear a path to the backyard for our bulldog.

Although I had to do a quick shovel this morning, the weather didn’t bring down my spirits. If there’s one thing the effort and the chill in the air made me feel, it’s alive. And while we can become discouraged if we look down at the snow mounds, we can look up to see the days getting longer, the bright sunlight this morning a promise that spring will come. Eventually.

In the same way, if we judge only by the way events unfold around us—problems with the economy, the needs in our society, concerns about the potential for war—we can lose heart. But we need to look up, as this quote reminds us:

If the sun is going down, look at the stars; if the earth is dark, keep your eyes on heaven. With God’s presence and God’s promises, anyone may be cheerful.

~ Father Lasance, quoted in “Celebrate March 2014,” Catholic Digest

I’m kind of a pessimist (as I’ve said before, I like to think of myself as a realist), so looking down and focussing on problems and worries is something I excel at. But I think we need to remember that everything does not depend on us and that we have somewhere to turn for comfort and help, as the psalmist reminds us in Psalm 121:1-2*:

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

And again in Psalm 123:1-2, we’re told to look to God:

To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

Behold, as the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the LORD our God,

till he have mercy upon us.

Just as we know that winter will give way to spring and the hours of daylight will increase, so we can trust that God is always present, he is always faithful, and his promises are sure.

May we remember that “The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds” (Psalm 145:13b); that he “upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down” (verse 14); and that he “is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth” (verse 18).

(*Scripture quotes taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition.)

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Tags: Catholic, Christian, faith, God, religion, trusting in God