Sightless Bird

Today I was painting fascia on a construction site. I climbed on the peaked roof to be able to reach the high points with my brush. As I was up there, I found that I couldn't see under the trim to know which spots I had missed. I needed Nick on the ground to guide my brush. My vision and perspective were not enough.

While I was up on the roof, I took off my glasses as I was concerned that they would fall off my face and off the roof. So I carefully set them next to me as I worked. Well, I somehow managed to move the glasses from next to me to under me as I climbed on the roof. I totally mangle them by crushing them with my work boot. The lens and frame were scratched and one of the stems is now completely broken off. Looking at the broken glasses and knowing that my pocketbook lacks the funds for a new pair, I am aching for the ability to see clearly.

The Indian poet, Rabindrinath Tagore repititiously uses the phrase "sightless bird" in a poem that resonates with my heart.

With hands outstretched and crooning ' Come, O come !

'Still, O bird, O sightless bird,

Not yet, not yet the time to furl your wings.

The poem is about a bird that is flying over the ocean, longing for its nest and dry land, for a time to rest and fold her wings. Miles and miles and miles from home, she is sightless, without vision for her destination or what the future holds.

For we walk by faith, not by sight -2 corinthians 5:7

2009...Take 2...a day of vision and lack thereof. My sight is so limited by my paradigms. My view of life is by no means panoramic. I need the eyes of others to see what I cannot. I need the eyes of others to show me not only where I need to add more paint to the fascia, but the parts of myself which could use a little fixing up. I need people in my life to reaffirm what is good in me but also to show me where I am lacking. In relationship we gain a multi-dimensional picture of ourselves. We learn where our thinking stinks and where our vision is too small.

God asks us to seek His face always. When we are anxious, fearful, alone, when we do not have a vision for our lives, when we are miles and miles and miles from our nest, it is God's vision which will sustain us and lead us, will give us the strength to fly by faith.

With my hands outstretched and crooning, O come, O come, Emmanuel.