
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!