Perspective

Two Januarys ago we took a seven-day, three-destination cruise. That sentence now, in the light of COVID, sounds ridiculous, extraordinary. Besides the itinerary, we were able to spend time with extended family and sneak away from a grey Ohio winter. It was a tremendous getaway.

Our first stop was Haiti. While basking in the warmth and the sun on a coastal tour, I was sad to notice so much garbage in the water. Then our captain informed us that the trash were actually markers for hand-woven fish traps sunken below the surface. I was struck by their ingenuity and my false assumption.

In Jamaica the next day, the weather changed our plans from snorkeling to an inland adventure and as we snaked through the crowded streets near the harbor, I noticed so much garbage that had run off from the previous night’s rain. Water bottles clogged the gutters and made the run-down streets look shabbier than they were.

Two days later we stopped in Mexico. The rain had passed, and the sun warmed the streets as we waited for a bus to take us to our destination. The town was immaculate; many, many trash cans (cleverly concealed between bushes or under giant flower boxes) helped eliminate any litter.

It wasn’t until we got home that I realized how differently each place had handled something as simple as an empty water bottle. What was garbage clogging the streets in one place was not seen in another, was a clever resource in a third.

Perspective changes everything.

I wonder- what in my life is clogging up my mind, claiming space better used otherwise? Is something unnecessary- a thought, an obligation, a task- and if I got rid of it, my vision would be clearer? Or is there an easy resource I’m not tapping into that would help me if I only realized its potential?  

What in your life is taking up space, making a nuisance of itself? Could you find a receptacle for it and wave goodbye? Or, could God be using it to better you in some way? What’s your water bottle, and what are you doing with it?