Hope and Perspective

Please note:  This was drafted earlier this Summer.

It's easy to look out my window and smile.  The weather has warmed, my daughters are nearly done with school for the season, and a fun filled Summer awaits.  Yes indeed economically times are tough.   Gas prices are expected to climb through the Summer and groceries still cost more than they should.

However....

I can look out my windows at my daughters blowing bubbles.
          Instead of looking at an empty yard where my daughter and her classmates once played.

I smell the fragrance of charcoal through my windows that reminds me of BBQs to come
          Instead of the smell of fire and humanity from my new home on an abandoned air strip.

Through my window the gift of a sunset, filling the sky with flecks of reds, pinks and oranges.
          Instead of the dank view of a windowless warehouse wall in a new country where the
          passage of time is not observed.

In a few weeks the sound of illegal fireworks will pleasantly startle and yet remind of us of my families freedom as we celebrate July 4.
          Instead of living in fear of the rockets heard overhead  will they destroy my home, the school,
          our synagogue?

We all have struggles, indeed we do.  We are all in need of hope and a focused perspective.  Desmond Tutu explained it this way, "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."  May we always see the light right in front of us. May we also recognize that when our light flickers dimly, it is still brighter than the darkness that envelopes others.  And may we keep pressing on and  never to be forced back when hope is in reach. 

Windows, Why Windows

Windows are everywhere. Through windows my eyes have seen some of the most spectacular things.  Losing my breath as I stared out my hotel window at the high towering mountains in Innsbruck Austria.  Melting into a childish wonder when I first laid my eyes on the holiday window displays at Lord and Taylor. Or always being drawn into the caramel popcorn filled windows at Dolle's on the boardwalk.

Walking past windows in my neighborhood there are windows full of intriguing books to be read, gorgeous gowns to be worn, and enticing cakes to be gobbled down.  Standing near certain windows can awaken my nose and make my tummy growl in hunger with the fragrances of garlic, curry or bacon.  And at times I hear things too...the voice of a frustrated mom (who doesn't realize I hear her), the pulsating rhythms of meringue music, or the chorus of men praying at the local synagogue.

Windows are revealing. They show us what lies inside whether it is our intent or not.  Some windows are intentionally fashioned to project an image - lure you inside.  Whereas there are times that through windows we are laid bare.  The argument overheard through an open window late at night. The argument that seems to just get louder and louder and longer and longer.

We walk by windows every day.  They become a part of the mundane.  We stop looking in.  We pay them no mind.  Yet for me.... maybe it is the child inside.... I love windows.  The Mark Twain window of the warm pie cooling on the ledge and the tempted young boy who just wants to devour it. The picture of home as described by Lonestar in their song "My Front Porch Looking In." The stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals that remind us of long held religious truths. I adore windows.

Windows make me look up.  Windows cause me to look in and deeper. Windows help me to look out and beyond.  We all need an adjustment in perspective from time to time.  We all need a different view.  A move from the confines of a cubicle toward a look at the ocean as it spills into the horizon.  A break from the computer monitors glow to grab a glance at the super moon outside.  I continue to learn from windows.  Not all windows are the same. And thank God for that. So much to discover and to reflect on. And as I learn from the windows I pass by, I look forward to letting you take a peak inside.