Every first Sunday, we are honored to have a guest blogger. This month, Anne-Barton Carter is our feature. Her brief bio is below.
Photo credit: Rhett Power The best Easter sermon I’ve ever heard arrived in the form of a Facebook post. A friend shared the wonder and excitement of an Easter morning through the eyes of her preschool daughter. The four year old perfectly summed up her delight in flower draped crosses and baskets of candy eggs and chocolate bunnies by exclaiming: “So much Jesus everywhere!” Indeed, there is so much Jesus everywhere. So much promise fulfilled, so many miracles. What then keeps my eyes from recognizing Jesus?
On a recent trip to Panama, I found myself in a boat bumping along over the clearest water I’ve ever encountered. Below me lay hectares of various coral species, but to my great disappointment I could see no fish swimming in that tropical garden. After fumbling with the flippers and snorting salt water into the mask, though, I finally managed get a good look around. Immediately, I saw two iridescent fish the size of my arm. I’d barely registered them before an entire school of yellow and black striped sergeants parted to let me swim past. I even saw a barracuda (Caution: singing while snorkeling is ill-advised).
So much Jesus everywhere!
Later in the week, my alarm rang very early one morning. Very, very early. I followed my Panamanian guide (did I mention I don’t speak Spanish?) up a spiral staircase 40 meters into the air and found myself above the canopy of the rainforest. I saw miles of green treetops and very little else. With time, patience and lots of gesturing, however, amazing things materialized. There were entire flocks of brilliantly colored toucans (Yes, the Froot Loops bird!), woodpeckers, hummingbirds, even parakeets and parrots. IN THE WILD! There were even howler monkeys swinging from the branches.
So much Jesus everywhere!
I concede that vacation time and the luxury of an exotic locale made seeing all this wonder much easier. I arrived back in Greensboro, though, to a city that had bloomed in my absence. One glance at the new green leaves, the pinks and whites of azaleas and dogwoods, even the abundance of yellow pollen, reminded me that I needn’t look very far to experience awe for the magnificence of a living, breathing, ever-resurrecting creation.
So much Jesus everywhere!
It turns out that “not seeing” is less about what there is to see and more about what I expect to find. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I get too caught up in what I think is in front of me or what I expect to be in front of me to really give my full attention to seeing. Couple that with a lamentable tendency to be inwardly focused or rushing from one thing to another, and suddenly I’m blind to the nuance and subtleties, the multiple layers and stories that are awaiting discovery. My presuppositions, my distractions, my expectations all keep my eyes from recognizing what I see. I need to remember that it is entirely possible that’s not just a woefully uninformed traveler walking the road with me. It’s likely Jesus.
So much Jesus everywhere!
On a recent trip to Panama, I found myself in a boat bumping along over the clearest water I’ve ever encountered. Below me lay hectares of various coral species, but to my great disappointment I could see no fish swimming in that tropical garden. After fumbling with the flippers and snorting salt water into the mask, though, I finally managed get a good look around. Immediately, I saw two iridescent fish the size of my arm. I’d barely registered them before an entire school of yellow and black striped sergeants parted to let me swim past. I even saw a barracuda (Caution: singing while snorkeling is ill-advised).
So much Jesus everywhere!
Later in the week, my alarm rang very early one morning. Very, very early. I followed my Panamanian guide (did I mention I don’t speak Spanish?) up a spiral staircase 40 meters into the air and found myself above the canopy of the rainforest. I saw miles of green treetops and very little else. With time, patience and lots of gesturing, however, amazing things materialized. There were entire flocks of brilliantly colored toucans (Yes, the Froot Loops bird!), woodpeckers, hummingbirds, even parakeets and parrots. IN THE WILD! There were even howler monkeys swinging from the branches.
So much Jesus everywhere!
I concede that vacation time and the luxury of an exotic locale made seeing all this wonder much easier. I arrived back in Greensboro, though, to a city that had bloomed in my absence. One glance at the new green leaves, the pinks and whites of azaleas and dogwoods, even the abundance of yellow pollen, reminded me that I needn’t look very far to experience awe for the magnificence of a living, breathing, ever-resurrecting creation.
So much Jesus everywhere!
It turns out that “not seeing” is less about what there is to see and more about what I expect to find. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I get too caught up in what I think is in front of me or what I expect to be in front of me to really give my full attention to seeing. Couple that with a lamentable tendency to be inwardly focused or rushing from one thing to another, and suddenly I’m blind to the nuance and subtleties, the multiple layers and stories that are awaiting discovery. My presuppositions, my distractions, my expectations all keep my eyes from recognizing what I see. I need to remember that it is entirely possible that’s not just a woefully uninformed traveler walking the road with me. It’s likely Jesus.
So much Jesus everywhere!
ANNE-BARTON CARTER holds a B.A. in Religion from the University of the South, an M.T.S. with a concentration in Ethics from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University. Currently a partner with Healing Ground Retreat Ministry, Anne-Barton also teaches Servant Leadership in the middle school at Canterbury.
RSS Feed
