RADIANCE OF THE RED ROSE
THE WINDOW
How is it, that sometimes we look at things, but don’t see them. Our eyes are like windows, taking in the view of what we are looking at, processing the image and discard it as unimportant.
One day looking out my front window, I saw a dead squirrel lying on the road—it must have been just hit by a car. There it was, just lying there—frantically two baby squirrels kept running back and forth trying to push and nudge their mother or father off of the road. I was so touched, tears filled my eyes. This is the depth of seeing beyond the unimportant. Times like this tug at my heart, and enable me to feel such sorrow for God’s little friends.
Open your eyes and see things-Open your heart and feel things.
Have you ever watched a bumblebee buzz around and pollinate flowers? Have you listened to a soft rain—its gentleness? Have you seen snowflakes float down—ever so softly? Have you listened to the sounds of the night, and watched the fireflies? Have you looked at the stars and caught a few shooting by? Have you felt God’s presence in the stillness of an empty church? Have you rustled through, the fallen colored leaves? Have you listened and watched the waves of the ocean—pushing and pulling? Have you listened to a bird’s song, watched them fly—so gracefully? Have you seen the beauty of flowers, smelled their gifts? Have you been deeply touched, by soft music? Have you seen the solitude, in the flicker of a burning candle? Have you been mesmerized, by a crackling fire in a fireplace? Have you heard the spring call of the croaking frogs? Have you heard the crackling of ice, by an ice skate blade? Have you been overwhelmed by a sunrise or sunset? Have you smelled the sweetness of a hayfield? Have you heard a bubbling brook and felt its coolness? Have you seen the power in a waterfall? Have you consumed the serenity, of a country lake? Have you listened to the wind whistle, and cut through pine needles? Have you seen the majestic beauty of a snow-capped mountain? Have you heard the silence, of falling snow? Have you walked in the snow listening to your crunching feet. Have you watched a caterpillar inch along—so slowly? Have you seen the beauty of a butterfly as it floats by? Have you watched a spider spin it’s web? Have you ever found a four-leaf clover? Have you felt the meaning, of your flag and country? Have you seen sorrow in an animal’s face and eyes? Have you seen the emptiness of the elderly? Have you seen the terror in the abused? Have you seen the desperation of the hungry and homeless? Have you felt reverence for the blind? Have you thought about the deaf—with no music? Have you felt the pain of the unattractive? Have you felt the pain of the rejected? Have you felt the prejudice of color or race? Have you felt the injustice of the retarded? Have you felt the agony of the deformed? Have you felt the pain of our Blessed Mother for her aborted children? Have you ever felt deep sorrow for the victims of the Holocaust— The ovens, the torture, the death of so many? Have you listened to your child’s heart, what is inside? Have you looked into your spouse’s eyes, his or her heart? Have you embraced—thanking each other, for each other? Have you forgotten the joy of your wedding day? Have you, a forgiving heart? Have you gentleness in your heart? Have you, found peace? Have you let your heart dance like a child? Have you found the loaf—not just the crumbs?
Open the window of your heart, let compassion fill you, and feel what you haven’t seen or felt before.
Robert J. Varrick
rjvarrick@gmail.com