Look Up.

I. the poem

look up... 

i see you crying, tired of trying
thought the day would be easier than this
the light stops shining, night is blinding
can't find your way walking with your eyes on the ground

so look up
you'll never know how much goes on above you
look up
you'll never know how far you might reach
just look up
there is so much to wonder at if you only look up

'cause there's so much to wonder at, if you only look up

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II. the story 

it was an early start to the day, and i was not yet over the "i'm-not-a-morning-person" blues. all of a sudden a family member (who was slightly more awake) called my attention to the ceiling. right there, clear as day, was a rainbow. not a tiny speck of color, but a real beam of visible light. my first reaction was to take a photo of it. my second reaction...

"wait, where'd it come from?"

somehow, the light reflected off of a white traffic sign had found its way though a second floor window and onto the ceiling. 

"well, that's cool. what are the odds of that?" i thought, and then forgot about it among the other tasks of my day.  

a few hours later, the position of the sun had changed and our rainbow was gone. as i looked back at the photos i had taken of it, the question returned: what are the odds of that?

how easy it would have been to miss the rainbow. such a small thing, caused by a trick of the light, not even permanent - if no one had told me to look up, i would never have seen its beauty. 

we spend a lot of time looking. for fame, for happiness, for success, for direction. oh yes, direction. i can guarantee you, we look for joy and fulfillment in every direction except the one that really matters - upwards, to God. 

it's a bit like the rainbow: His way's beautiful and promising, but all too easy to miss. sometimes we need a little help finding our direction. after all, you can only go so far with your eyes on the ground. soon enough, it all caves in and we hit rock bottom.

what's good about rock bottom? from there, you can only look up. from there, you find your direction. from there, you finally realize what you were missing. there's so much to wonder at, if you only look up.

(P.S. in my mind, this poem is the beginning of a song. it reads rather like one, rhythm-wise. i feel like with more time, when the words come to me, it could become a song, or at least a longer poem. maybe i'll come back to it as i discover more about looking up.)

photos: May 21, 2020