The eye of the beholder

I had a discussion a few days ago with someone about one of our local parks on the shore of Lake Champlain. It was stated that the beach was filthy, dirty and unhealthy, and the park itself was not suitable for families, especially with children. Having just talked with the park supervisor who stated that the beach is cleaned daily, the water quality is tested daily and was rated good at this time, and that there were two park employees on duty when we were going to be there I felt pretty comfortable with going there.

When we reached the park we found the picnic tables were clean, a fresh bag in the garbage can and no trash strewn around. There was some lakeweed along the shore, but it was an overcast day and we were concentrating on the barbecue, the volleyball game and bocci ball. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Looking around, my daughter made a comment to me about how clean everything was. She has just spent the last four years in the Chicago area at school, and she helped out with a children's ministry. Going to the cleanest of parks in the Kankakee, IL area, she said they always had to check the ground for smashed glass, the bathrooms for used syringes and were cautious around the water where literally anything might have been tossed in. She said that maybe the beach wasn't as clean as it could be by Vermont standards, but by Illinois standards it was a paradise!

It made me think about the fact that sometimes we are so conditioned by what we are used to that we have trouble seeing conditions for what they are. Like an artist who has to unlearn 'seeing' in order to draw....to learn to draw what IS rather than what the eye fills in. Or the person who is abused, but since that is all they know they think it is normal. God wants so much more for us than just what we are immersed in. His future for us is bright, shiny, clean and new every day. I thank God for the clean beaches of Vermont, and for the vision God has for us that lifts us beyond what we know.


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