Keep Looking Up

I would have missed this wonderful magnolia blossom if I hadn’t looked up. Day lilies of gold and burgundy, blue and oak hydrangea, Nile lilies the color of the sky, and a red firecracker plant displaying its brand new explosive blooms just in time for Memorial Day–these I can easily see as I walk. But to see the magnolia blossoms I have to look up, sometimes way up.

The blossom reminds me of an elegant porcelain chandelier, especially with sunlight sifting in. Other blooms high in the trees make me think of brides awaiting their magical moment. I think, too, of “Steel Magnolias,” the Dolly Parton movie in which beautiful women show what they’re made of when tragedy hits.

What else would I miss if I didn’t look up?

I’d miss amazing sky scapes. Sometimes the sky is so beautiful I can only say, “Thank you, thank you, Lord.” Whether drifting, feathery clouds changing by the minute, or a wide-open expanse of deep blue, or a sunset-stained sky, or one pricked with stars, all are incredibly marvelous. And all that, not to even mention the moon as a thin sliver or as a full fat disc.

What about birds’ nests? Yesterday I looked up to see a pair of birds–mockingbirds, I think–flying in and out of a thick jasmine vine climbing our mailbox pine. I saw bits of debris in their beaks and knew it was nest building time for them. More than once I have observed mourning doves building a sprangly nest on the flat of a wide palm branch. Better than that view was the one of babies walking up and down that branch before they flew. It was as if the branch were their neighborhood playground.

Though I do love a quiet sky, I am also fascinated with planes, high flying jets, small planes from our own Grady County airport, and an occasional helicopter. Sometimes I wouldn’t know a jet was flying over unless I looked up to see the stream of vapor behind it making weird streaks in the sky.

Without looking up I’d miss the breezes playing in the tops of pine and oak. I’d miss the orange and red trumpet flowers on the trellis at the library. And I’d miss the purple wisteria climbing amongst the reeds, lush as Caleb and Joshua’s grape clusters.

An old pastor of my home church was often quoted in our family when things turned a bit dismal. Someone would say, “As Pastor White says, ‘Keep looking up.'” Pastor White wasn’t talking about magnolia blossoms, birds’ nests, high flying planes or wisteria vines. He was talking about our walk with Jesus. He was talking about our trusting Him when life is dark. He was talking about keeping our eyes (our consciousness, our focus) on Jesus rather than on frustrating circumstances down on our level.

If life is throwing you a curve, if you find yourself in a rut, if trouble is hounding you–don’t forget: “Keep looking up.”

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:5