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            So its observation decks in the news today.  A list of ten of the world’s coolest observation decks includes “the ledge” at the Sears Tower in Chicago, which makes you feel like you are standing unsupported 103 stories above ground.  Also included in the list is the Grand Canyon skywalk in Arizona, a u-shaped bridge which is arguably the world’s highest observation deck.

            What is your favorite observation deck?  Where do you go for spectacular views?  It doesn’t have to be a distant exotic location; it can be as close as your own back yard.  A couple of days ago, I went over to a friend’s house to help paint.  The day was gorgeous, and we rested afterward on the well-worn deck. The view was stunning.  A hay meadow, a cold water spring, and green cedar trees interspersed among the changing colors of the woods gave us pause for a moment.  As we sat, a couple of deer sauntered along. 

            Where do you go to observe life?  It doesn’t have to be an exotic faraway location and it doesn’t even have to be in nature.  It can be any where there is peace, any where there is beauty, any where there is evidence of the Master’s handiwork.   The trick is pausing to notice it.

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            There’s an annual Small World Photomicrography Competition going on that aims to showcase “the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope.”  The photographs that were taken reveal what is not visible to the naked eye.  It’s there and it’s beautiful, it’s just not visible without magnification.

            One of the photographs is a picture of two cancer cells that are at the stage where they are just about to divide.  They are beautiful and repulsive at the same time.  The cells are not visible to the naked eye, but they are still there, ready at any moment to cause pain, despair and even death.

            I had a friend in Tulsa who was always smiling. No matter what the weather, or his circumstance, or situation, he always had a radiant smile on his face.  I asked him one day why his eyes always looked so bright and sparkling and he said, “Clean windows.”  What he meant was that he didn’t carry bitterness, resentment, anger or jealously in his soul.  His soul was clean.

            Our light and our beauty can only shine through when we clear out the cobwebs and find the way to love.  Love is light. Sometimes it’s miniscule, invisible to the naked eye, but love is always beautiful.    

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            “I got a whole lot of happy,” that’s what Juan Uribe said when asked how he felt after hitting a sacrifice fly to win the baseball game for the San Francisco Giants last night.  What is remarkable about the play is that Uribe went up to bat with a throbbing left wrist.  An injury had kept him out of the series for the last two games, and he swung with tremendous pain as the ball flew out into left field.  He played through the pain and it brought him success and acclamation.

            Playing through the pain --that’s what I see every Sunday morning as our aging congregation struggles to be faithful.  I count at least ten ninety year olds in our pews each Sunday.  They come on walkers and canes, some even carrying oxygen bottles; but they come.  They persevere because they must.  They don’t give up. They are playing through pain you and I can only imagine.  They persist for many reasons, some because of their commitment to their church and their God; some just because they are stubborn.  But in each case, they inspire the rest of us to carry on and not give up.  And the result?  We all get “a whole lot of happy”.

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            Eleven State Pension Funds might run out of money – that’s what the news is today. Only 11?  In this economy, I would have guessed 50.  Everyone seems to be either out of money or very close.  It might be  a good time to write about abundance.

            I remember a time when my daughter was about 2 or 3.  We were living in a converted barn, I was out of work and the child support was $60 a week.  We stayed alive on government cheese.  One beautiful autumn day, much like the day today, we went to Will Rogers State Park in Claremore, OK, to visit his museum. It is housed in a mansion-like building that my daughter loved.  The grounds were littered with fallen leaves and my daughter and I shuffled thru them enjoying the day.  Suddenly, she fell to the ground threw heaps of leaves up in the air and nearly shouted, “Mom, God gave us all these beautiful leaves, and a fairy castle, we’re rich!” And to her, at that moment, we were.  We had each other, a beautiful day and all the time in the world.

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            The news today is that paleontologists have found some grinding stones that seem to be about 10,000 years old.  And it appears that they have some small grains of flour on them, suggesting that cavemen ate a form of bread made from roots gathered and ground.   Good news for us who cherish our carbohydrates.  The cavemen may have begun our love of bread and pasta with a simple type of crispy cracker.

            Bread has been a symbol of nourishment and community in many religions.  The Jewish heritage is to celebrate together with the breaking of the unleavened bread.  Christians use the bread as a symbol of Christ’s presence in and nourishment of our spiritual lives.   Both rites are held in gatherings of the faithful. 

            I recently attended a retreat in which many meals were shared.  What I found interesting was the variety of food demands made on the food service workers.  Some needed foods without sugar, some required gluten free products and one attender drank only coconut milk.  Now, while I respect the health needs of those who have allergies, I wonder how all these demands affect our sense of shared community.  Eating together becomes less and less common and with all the different dietary needs, we might as well all scarf down our food alone.   Unfortunately the result is that we nourish our bodies but starve our souls.

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            The news today is that the Chilean miners who were rescued last week have a pact not to talk about their experiences other than as a group.  This is to ensure that the truth about what happened while they were trapped in the mine would be told.

            These days, when a group of any size begins to meet and share what is going on emotionally, spiritually or even physically, a kind of group covenant is made to keep what is said there within the group.  It is supposed to ensure a kind of safety and trust so that the members of the group can speak in confidence. Group confidentiality is crucial to the success of any group.  When members do not feel safe to confide in others the nature of their issues, then the group becomes almost ineffective. 

            Unfortunately, confidentiality is almost always is broken.  And apparently, in the case of the miners, it will be broken as book deals and movie rights lure the miners into disclosure.  It’s too bad.  Not so much because the truth will get distorted, but because the lives of the miners could ultimately be destroyed.  I am hoping that doesn’t happen – to them or to you ….

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