Listen

Lift up your eyes and look all around: they are all gathered; they have come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters on caregivers’ hips. Then you will see and be radiant; your heart will tremble and open wide, because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you; the nations’ wealth will come to you. Countless camels will cover your land, young camels from Midian and Ephah. They will all come from Sheba, carrying gold and incense, proclaiming the Lord’s praises.

Isaiah 60:4-6

Think

“Lift your eyes and look all around.” The people listening to the prophet’s words have lost their hope. They are far away from home. They feel weak and powerless. They are at the mercy of people who are more powerful than them. They are fighting with each other. They cannot notice anything but their despair and their weariness. And then the prophet cries out: Hey! You will see! You will be radiant! Your heart will tremble! There will be abundance! Your family will come from far away and will be near. You will not be invisible anymore! Look up!

What are you feeling when you are looking at the ground? Or maybe looking down at your cellphone, able to tune out everything else because it feels overwhelming? What are you missing when your eyes are fixated on looking down? What manifestations of love, of abundance, of recognition and connection are you unable to see? Lift your eyes and look around! Community is possible. Restoration is possible. Joy is possible. Light is possible. Lift up your eyes… and you’ll see.

Marissa Galván-Valle

Question to Ponder:

How does looking up change our perspective?

Pray

God, open my eyes, open my senses, open my ears,

So that I can see the love around me,

So that I can feel your presence inside me,

So that I can hear the songs that proclaim that there’s still promise in this world.

In Jesus Christ, the greatest revelation, we pray.

Amen.

Go

Jesus Christ is born for all the world! Step into the light of God and celebrate God’s manifestation in the sunlight, in the kind words of a friend, and in the love that surrounds you.