A View From The Top

What if you stood at the top of the earth near the North Pole? You could be amazed by a vista so different from anything you had ever seen before. From that vantage point, you might see the sun shining at mid-night, appearing to hang beneath a greatly enlarged, partially illuminated moon. At any other position on the planet such a view would not be possible. It illustrates the importance of perspective.

I have a memory trace as a child, playing around my mother’s knees. I looked up as she was embroidering. I remember her saying “pretty.” Looking up at it from the bottom, I saw only knots and threads going off in all directions without apparent rhyme or reason. When she turned it around, so I could see it from the top, a colorful design greeted my eyes. I repeated back to her, “pretty.” It was one of the first words I learned to say after dada, mama, no, and mine.

By faith, I believe, we can rise above circumstances and view them from the top. What was confused and chaotic can now be discerned as having plan and purpose. Our angle of observation is all important.

I am told that in India rugs are hung vertically and woven from the backside. Only the master craftsman can see the pattern developing. He instructs the workmen how to weave. What if they make a mistake and sow the wrong color or stitch? Does he have the mistake pulled out of the pattern? I am told that if he is truly a master craftsman he can leave in the error and direct the workers to weave around it so that the finished beauty of the carpet will be enhanced by the mistake.

This does not give us an excuse to mess up. But it does comfort us to realize that when we make serious errors in judgment and behavior our God is great enough to use them to beautify our lives with his grace and mercy. Let’s try to see this from the top.