"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time." Betty Smith
Some years ago, I spent a month in Salzburg, Austria. A friend and I were traveling and we had settled into a room we rented in the house of a charming Austrian couple. Each day we would head out early and walk to a nearby cafe for our morning coffee and decadent pastry. We would sit, like true Austrians, for hours, nursing a cup of rich, strong coffee reading the paper, keeping tabs on the rest of the world and what was happening in the United States. Our daily walk to the cafe took us through a park, along the river, where mothers and children gathered, where older men played a lawn bowling game, people walked leisurely and often. Around us the Alps encircled us with strong, snow-capped arms.
My friend and I continued to be awestruck each day by the beauty of the mountains, the splendor of this setting so foreign to us. We often talked about whether or not the natives continued to be struck with the beauty that surrounded them or was it all just ho-hum-home to them. As far as I remember, we never really asked anyone that question, so I still wonder.
This weekend I was struck with what it means to look…really look…and know that you are preserving the moment, savoring with your eyes, ‘seeing it, as if, either for the first or last time.’ As I held a long awaited baby of friends for the first time, I examined her toes, her eyebrows, her fragile limbs and beautiful, sweet face…certainly a miracle I was witnessing for the very first time. As I observed a father walk his youngest daughter down the aisle, I watched looks of joy and hope, of gratitude and deep love pass between them…..a holy moment…..filled with firsts and in some way lasts. Looking…..seeing….preserving….filing memories.
So often I have driven down the highway and will not remember what I have just passed. I am moving at the speed of light…..not looking, not seeing, neither for the first, the last, or any time. While I do not live surrounded by the Alps, I am privileged to live near the Mississippi River, near gorgeous lakes, surrounded by brilliant flowering plants. I am also blessed each day to meet and greet family, friends, neighbors and strangers….each with faces that delight me and for which I am grateful. Each deserves the intentional look that strikes wonder and awe in my heart.
May this day find me….find you….looking, really looking, with the wonder of first looks and the gratitude of last looks.
"God saw everything that was made, and indeed, it was very, very good." Genesis 1:31