“Look up, Mona!”

That was me speaking. Yes, talking to myself. Wasn’t the first time. Wasn’t the last.

Here’s some grace for me. For you too, if you talk to yourself.

According to Scripture, I’m in good company. At least that’s true when I’m talking to my soul. The Psalmists, whether it was David or the Sons of Korah, made it a habit to converse with their soul. To remind themselves of God’s goodness and grace.

I’ve decided talking to myself–to my soul–is a spiritual practice worth much merit. Another pathway for seeing beyond myself and (re)centering my focus on my way-maker.

So, why am I giving myself the directive to look up?

Because I don’t. Not often enough. I forget. My default focus tends toward a flat perspective. Looking for and looking at what’s in front of my face. What’s surrounding me at the moment. What’s pressing on my shoulders. The following experience serves as a good example.

My kind of day. Granted, it was still early. Not much time had passed since twilight tapped dawn on the shoulder to step aside for twilight’s dance with sunrise. The three lagoons at Dead Horse Ranch State Park (yes, we’re in Arizona–that is the park’s actual name) served as my gym and my prayer closet. Because of the heat index slated for later in the day, I chose to pound the gravel path before most people cared to roll out of bed.

But when I climbed out of the dry gulley between the first and second lagoons, I spied a man wearing a floppy cap over frizzy gray hair. “Did you see it?” He smoothed his bushy mustache.

“What?” I glanced around me, my focus on the ground. Uh-oh. What was I supposed to have seen? A coyote? A skunk? A rattlesnake? What?

“The bald eagle.” The man pointed a gnarled finger upward. “He’s been circling. Riding the current. But just landed on a perch.”

I lifted my gaze. At the very tip-top of the all-but-barren Cottonwood tree, a white capped, regal bird surveyed the air and water that was his playground and his hunting grounds.

I almost missed the gift God shared with us that morning. Whether I’m looking at beauty or ashes, God has something for me to see, to perceive, to receive. It’s about paying attention, embracing a higher perspective, and accepting God’s grace for and in the moment.

Maybe the something new involves a change of plans, a new mindset, a necessary ending, a fresh start, an opportunity. I don’t know and maybe you don’t see it yet, but keep looking up. To the God who gives good gifts. Don’t miss seeing the bald eagle. Or whatever it is that God is holding out to you.

All of that (and more) is why you’re likely to hear me talking to myself. Urging my soul to look up. To remember the God who loves me. To see and perceive the new thing God is doing.

Is there something you need to say to your soul today?

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