Fixing Our Eyes

“What are those things the horses have by their eyes?” I asked my mom, pointing to the small black squares of leather by the draft horses’ eyes. It looked like they wouldn’t be able to see anything with those on!

“Those are called blinders.” She explained they were to help keep the horses from getting distracted or spooked by whatever entered their peripheral vision.

This visual from childhood has stuck with me. I’ve used it as an example to students of how to keep their focus and “get in the zone” while working. I demonstrate blinders with my hands, telling them they can put up their hoods, sit facing a wall, put in earbuds, or whatever helps them concentrate on their work. After reading more about these blinders, I have come to see an even broader and deeper significance to them.

According to Dallas Equestrian Center, the fact that horses' eyes sit on the sides of their heads indicates they are hunted in the wild; otherwise, as hunters, their eyes would be in front, like cats. Their strong peripheral vision enables them to see and quickly flee from predators. For domesticated horses, this means they "can end up running off course unless they are made to remain focused,” as the “flight” reflex will kick in if any perceived danger enters their vision. Blinders are especially important for race horses and those pulling carts, carriages, wagons, or plows, who must “keep their eyes focused on what is ahead, rather than what is at the side or behind,” not only for speed’s sake, but also for the safety of the horse and its rider or load. (http://www.dallasequestriancenter.com/why-do-horses-wear-blinders/)

Covering all or part of the horse’s vision may thus help a horse trust its leader and “take chances it would not normally take.” The story goes that the inventor of blinders was a preacher who bet his friends he could get his horse to walk up the stairs of his house. The horse did easily, but then it would not return down. When the preacher covered the horse’s head, however, he was able to lead the horse back down the stairs. (Dallas Equestrian Center)

This reminds me of the story of Peter in Matthew 14. During the night, he was crossing a lake with the other disciples, while Jesus stayed behind to pray on the mountainside. “The boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it,” when they saw a man walking on the water toward them. They were overtaken with fear, believing him to be a ghost.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (v. 26-29)

But Peter had no blinders. “When he saw the wind,” the danger in his peripheral vision, the risk he was taking, took his focus, incurring fear that overtook his trust in the Savior. He began to sink, so he cried out, “Lord, save me!” (v. 30)

Peter cried out for salvation after losing faith in its pre-existence. He did not trust that Jesus’ calling him to come had already confirmed Peter’s safety, all the way to Jesus. He allowed the perceived danger, the trial, the trouble, to take his gaze. The story continues:

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (v. 31)

Peter doubted because he did not fix his eyes on Jesus and only Him, but allowed himself to be distracted and pulled off course by the dangers in his peripheral vision. Of “fixing your eyes,” MacmillanDictionary.com states, “If you fix your eyes or your attention on someone or something, you look straight at them and at nothing else.” In other words, you look forward with “blinders” on. Peter forgot his blinders. Blinders do not eliminate danger, enemies, or trouble; blinders remove your view of them. As Proverbs 4:25 (NLT) advises, “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.” If Jesus is front and center in your vision, He is “what lies before you” and nothing else can take His place. To conclude the story:

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (v. 32)

The other disciples did not have the faith to step out of the boat. They did not even seem to fully believe in Jesus as the Son of God until they had seen His power, not only to walk on water, but also to calm the wind. They trusted in their own eyes, in what they could see, rather than the truth of His Word, the unseen. Unlike them, let us “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV).

Our salvation is not dependent on our asking Christ to save us. He has already done this. Our ability to walk upon the water, with our eyes fixed ahead and blinders on to the predators and risks, is dependent upon our trust that He has already won, has already saved us, and will not forsake us. Psalm 16:8 (NIV) confirms: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

And then peace. As prayed in Isaiah 26:3 (ESV), “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

How do we stay our minds on Christ? How do we put on those blinders of faith and see Him through all the distraction, temptation, confusion, argument, pain, and anything else that rises up to tell us we are in trouble? How do we see Him always as enough? As Savior before we even need ask? How do we follow Him, “blindly,” trusting Him to see beyond what our naked eyes see, to the unseen, eternal Truth?

First, read, meditate on, and store up in your heart His Word, His commandments, His Truth, and submit your ways to the path of this Truth. Consider the following passage:

Psalm 119:5-6, 9-16

Oh that my ways may be steadfast

  in keeping your statutes!

Then I shall not be put to shame,

  having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

How can a young man keep his way pure?

   By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart,

   that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O Lord;

  teach me your statutes!

With my lips I declare

   all the rules[c] of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight

   as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on your precepts

    and fix my eyes on your ways.

I will delight in your statutes;

   I will not forget your word.

Furthermore, open your heart to God, speak to Him, and listen for His voice. Fix your eyes on Jesus, “the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2 NASB). Look straight at Him and His Word and nothing else.

Pray. Before doubting or becoming nervous about any situation, “fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1 NIV) and lay it before God. Then “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6 ESV).

Consider fasting. This is a way to put on the “blinders” to distractions, temptations, addictions, or even “needs” that can pull our vision from the “All-We-Need” embodied— Jesus.

In the words of an old song,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace. (Helen H. Limmel, 1922)

Walk to Him, not looking down, to the side, or behind. Only forward.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Teachers

  "The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth." --Dan Rather

Every moment I have with students is a crucial one.

I have the chance to inspire or cut them down,

to open eyes to potential or dim them with shortcomings,

to help them see their uniqueness or make them feel they don’t belong.

I must choose whether

to react in anger or respond with gentleness,

to raise my voice in frustration or speak with conviction and truth,

perhaps in contradiction to their belief: "You can do this. Let me help."

The teacher must decide to find a new way

if the other is not working,

and try again and again and again...

A teacher’s job is different from any other

because, in order to be effective, it requires

the teacher to get buy-in, not compliance.

Teachers are not “bosses” who can just give orders,

for students will not learn from someone they do not like

or from someone they think does not like them.

Teachers must have compassion and love

for those they teach,

and an insatiable desire to

not only fill a head with knowledge

and equip hands with skills,

but even more so,

to enlighten, to empower,

light a fire within

to learn and grow and

change the world.

That’s what teachers are for.

Where I'm From

I am from the journals I wrote in almost every night.

From Korn Kurls and Coppertone.

I am from the twenty-two different homes I've lived in,

including the house at the end of the road with the line of Spruce trees in front—

the warm home painted blue with red doors and red brick.

I am from the tree I sat and read books in as a child, looking out over the wetlands behind,

and from the giant red oak tree in my backyard, begging to hold a treehouse for my kids.

I’m from pumpkin patches, Christmas trees and carols, laughter, movies, and games.

From Stuebes, Simantels, Dad’s adoption, and marriage.

From wagging black labs and a golden retriever, and cats that curl up on my lap.

I’m from the exploring of new places and sitting in coffee shops, chatting about life’s mysteries.

I am from “serve one another in love” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”

I'm from Christianity, from a Lutheran Reverend to Charismatic Revival and the in-between.

I’m from Forest Grove, Oregon, and a birth center that no longer exists.

I’m from Hillsboro and saying “Hi” to Harvey, the perpetually-waving rabbit-man;

from rejoicing in the reunion of the A&W family by the pool;

and from watching the carving of the Indian Chief who stands decaying in the park, soon to be brought down.

I am from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany— from lines on my Ancestry.com family tree.

I’m from Veracruz, Mexico— from tacos al pastor, music on decorated buses, whitewashed palm trees, morning downpours, and heat, heat, heat.

I’m from German pancakes, pizza, and ice-cream.

From camping trips, forest hikes, the Oregon Coast— places like Haystack Rock, Hug Point, the Octopus Tree, the Oceanside tunnel, and new discoveries, like University Falls.

I’m from the time I was left at Burger King— and a Kids’ Meal and crown were bestowed upon me, I was shown to the "government's quarters," and employees served as my companions-in-waiting.

From talks on road trips while children sleep.

From the separation and closeness of family.

From shouts, inside jokes, and movie quotes.

I am from photo albums on the shelf full of memories

and the digital images stored in a cloud,

preserving for future generations—new growth on the old trees—

some of the best moments of our lives.

Based on the following template and original poem by George Ella Lyon found at: http://www.sausd.us/cms/lib5/CA01000471/Centricity/Domain/3043/I%20Am%20From%20Poem.pdf

Dreams

"Dream big." "Chase after your dreams." What other catch-phrases are out there? We might use the words "vision" or "purpose" instead, but really they all point to this idea that most of us want to have a bigger reason to be here, not just to breathe air, eat, sleep, and die.

A pastor recently talked about first making sure those are God’s dreams for us, not our own. And I agree. But, even before that, consider— is GOD your dream? When people are in love, oftentimes all they really want is the other person with them. That person is the dream. If we are truly in love with Jesus, then He should be all we want...if He is our dream, then He will also be the One to give us dreams to pursue and to achieve, for Him. As Psalm 37:4 tells us, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” As we delight in Him, His desires become ours.

In Luke 10, we read about the sisters Mary and Martha. Martha may have had a dream to follow Jesus; she certainly was fulfilling the dream of serving Him! Yet she was not satisfied— as none of us will be if we pursue our dreams and even accomplish them, apart from Him. We may even wonder if we should have chased after those dreams in the first place. We may compare our accomplishments with others and believe we’ve come up short, or we may feel resentful that others are not helping us achieve our dreams, as Martha acted toward Mary.

Mary, on the other hand, made Christ her dream. She sat at His feet and listened to Him, learned from Him, dwelled in His presence. Jesus said, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (v. 42 NIV).

So, how do we make sure our dreams are from God? We actually don’t start with that question. First, we must ask ourselves if HE is our dream. We walk with Him, talk with Him, spend time in His Word, and let Him speak to us through His Holy Spirit. He must pour His Spirit into us: "’In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams’” (Acts 2:17). As “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) in Him, then we can dream His Dream and begin to live it out.

Make the Dream-Maker your All-in-All, your Dream, and the dreams, the purpose He has for you, will be there, waiting for you.

Musings...Inside, Outside

April 12, 2017

Inside, Outside

by Ruth Happ

Sometimes when it rains outside,

I sit and think

about all the things

I could be doing

Out there

among the trees and leaves

and growing things

As a kid I would

Play catch

with a football

baseball

or hacky-sack

tossed between our feet

Bounce the ball and

shoot some hoops

to the tune of

H.O.R.S.E. or P.I.G.

or maybe

travel Around the World

Other times my friends from school

would come knocking on my door,

“Come out, let’s ride!”

they’d say real quick,

then rush off to their bikes

I’d look at my mom,

who’d usually nod

and say,

“Just don’t be gone too long”

Then I’d grab my bike

and off we’d go

around the neighborhood

To see…

to feel the breeze

and fly

away from homework

worry

money

fights

Carefree, hands-free

thinking only of that moment

feeling like we could do

anything

that we dreamed

Sometimes I swam

indoors, outdoors

back and forth

now cold, now warm

jumping, diving, splashing

free-styling, hand-standing

smiling, laughing

feeling free

like a fish or a mermaid

hair streaming

But then

something shifted

the wind changed

my thoughts turned inward

I began to see

Myself

My face

My skin

My imperfection

And my play came to mean

something more than just play

the neighbor guy, my friend,

Hmm…

What else did he mean to me?

I started to feel afraid he’d see

everything that was wrong

with me

So I hid my face,

my acne

and turned away

despite his frustrated pleas

for me to turn

and look at him

when he was talking to me

I walked a space behind him

when going from the outdoor pool

to the indoor

so he couldn’t see

the mole

on the back

of my left leg

or the roundness of my thighs

or the way

the surface of them dented

like craters on the moon

when I sat down

and pulled back my skin

“Cell - u - lite”

they told me

“So weird to have so young!”

Well, that’s just one more thing

that’s wrong with me

The thoughts kept flying in

“I’ll never be like other girls

Pretty

Admired

Dressed-in-Style

Crushed on

Dated

Wanted...”

I didn’t see

or understand

that really

I had a sense of humor

and I was smart and serious

all at the same time

and I could play ball

and I could get better...

The kids’ yells at my mistakes

really didn’t matter

I could sing

And who cares if you get a solo?

I could dance

to the Nutcracker, Michael Jackson, C&C Music Factory, Christian rap...

or Riverdance, whatever

I could read well

and write

everyday in my journal

about my family and their fights

about my dog and cat who died

about the boys I thought I loved

about the sky when the sun went to bed in a canvas sheet of color

a story I made up about a girl and her grandmother

poetry that came to me like a little bird on a wire

And I could make someone else feel better

with help on her homework

or a smile and “Hello”

or a “Hey, can you come over?”

Somehow,

slowly,

I began to see

my face

my flaws

were not all

of who I was

Just truth of life,

as my mom would say,

nothing’s perfect

no one is

but Jesus

And all of us

have something

we want to hide

a place, a time,

we stay inside

where it’s safe

where no one has to see

who we really are

or want to be

I look around now

no windows on these walls

But I can see

in my mind’s eye

a world beyond

all that I know

A girl in her yard,

kicking a goal past her brother

A boy in his kitchen,

baking a pie for his mother

A man in his church,

holding hands with his daughter

A woman in her school,

teaching kindness to her students

And I realize

we need both inside and outside

to think

to talk

to see

to hear

to feel

to do

to be

I am who i am

but I am not all

that I can be

And so I keep on living

and learning

and dreaming

and loving

and being loved

And that is really

what life

means

to me.