Traveling the Rock Road

“God sees us with the eyes of a Father. He sees our defects, errors and blemishes. But He also sees our value.” ― Max Lucado
Isn’t that an awesome picture?! This is Tahquamenon Falls in the U.P. of Michigan, one of the most spectacular falls in the eastern United States. My Lady and I were up there biking and hiking a few years back and had the opportunity to take it in its breathtaking view. With all the miles we have bicycled and hiked I never tire of discovering new sights across this beautiful land called America!
What? Smudge, what smudge? Hey, you’re right, smack dab right in the middle of the picture! Now what kind of dirty dog would do such a thing to a stunning image such as this? Okay, okay; Arf Arf!! Truth is I marked it up like to stress a point. (Don’t worry, this is a copy of the original; I wish to make a point but I’m not crazy; at least I hope!) This is a visual I’ve used many times over to explain my main point. Usually, I start with a clean picture of beauty such as this one, asking the individual admiring it to take it the full magnificence of what they are seeing. While their gaze is fixed intently on the vision before them I’ll pull out a marker and quickly place a mar on the picture. Of course there is startled surprise at what just happened, but something else happens, each and every time. No longer are the eyes drawn to the beauty that fills the depiction before them; their gaze is magnetically pulled to the tarnish on the illustration. No matter how large the splendor of the picture remains or how small the blemish is, the fact remains that the eye goes first to the fault, the imperfection. Okay, has everyone figured out where the Gray One is headed? If so I guess I can stop right here; Nah!!!
In every single person’s life there is a blemish, a mar, an imperfection. For some it’s a matter that they’ve dealt with for their entire existence; for others its something that’s happened to them later on in years that’s brought the proverbial dent to the side of their mental, physical, or emotional being. I remember a time I had played the largest musical gig of my life with the biggest name that I came to know personally in the industry. This man was living on Cloud 9 and had never felt such jubilation about my craft; I just knew I was on the way to living my musical dream. Two weeks later I was replaced by another drummer. The reason given was, “You’re just not good enough for what we need, kid–maybe later.” That comment was enough for me to take a knife and slash all the heads on my drum kit, then throw them in the closet and not look at them for a long time. I was not good enough (truthfully) for what they needed in that band; but that didn’t mean I wasn’t good enough for music and the beauty and happiness it brought and continues to do so.
The amount of folks I’ve encountered over the years who find so little happiness from being blinded by the “blotch” is staggering, but I could also go on forever giving examples of unpleasant situations and the people I know who overcame the “blotch” and have learned to bask in the beauty around them, to discover what Max Lucado puts this way when expressing how God see us; “Remember, you are special because I made you. And I don’t make mistakes.”
Today, if you cannot erase that blotch you live with then, at least, make the effort not to let it cover of the full picture of splendor around you and in you. You are such an awesome, special person!!
“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than look down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” ― G.K. Chesterton