What Hinders Your Vision?

One thing really cool about spending some time at Toledo Bend if you are not near a lot of other camps or campgrounds is that you experience very little light pollution. This means that at night, unless hindered by clouds, you can see things at Toledo Bend that you cannot usually see in a city or even small town. The first time I saw the Milky Way, I thought it was a wisp of clouds. However, the next night that very same wisp happened to be in the very same place and each night it was the same. No. That was not a wisp of clouds, that was the Milky Way which has always been there even though the light pollution where I live has hindered many from seeing the night sky wonder. I saw satellites and meteorites and many aircraft that normally would have been hindered from sight where I make my home. While light pollution from the neighboring city at my place is not as significant as it would be for those who live near larger cities, it is still enough to hinder observation of what is in the night sky whether seen or not.

Spiritual light pollution!? Dare I even make such a comment or broach such a subject? Is it possible that there could be something even akin to such? Can we be so caught up in "serving" God that we cannot see God, or that we miss the small nuances because of the clamor of that which is around us? College and Seminary proved at times to be very challenging and not because of the papers that had to be written but precisely because the papers had to be written. The works in and of themselves at times became the goal rather than spiritual growth. Meeting a deadline and making sure everything was fine according to Turabian trumped any personal light that could and should have been garnered from the task. It is the flaw of many classes that the rigor of academia replaces one's relationship with the Living Word. As such, in this post, I am calling it light pollution. We are exposed to "so much" light at one time and with such time constraints and grammatical restraints that we miss the True Light.

This also happens on a daily basis if we are not watchful. We can find ourselves so caught up in serving the Lord and "defending" the Word that we miss our relationship that comes with the Lord through the Word. This is precisely why some step away from blogging for a while. This is precisely why some pastors take vacations. But I wonder if a "yearly" break is what is truly needed. At times in the Scriptures, long after others had gone to sleep, we find Jesus on a mountain top praying. You think maybe he went to the mountain top so that He could see what was hindered from being seen in the valley below? He made it a practice to step away from the canvas and look at the overall picture. He made it a practice to step away from the crowds so that He could "see the stars" in all their glory, without being hindered by the light pollution around Him. If Jesus Himself saw the practical and habitual need of being alone, unhindered in vision to nurture His relationship with His Father, how much more then do we need to practice the same? No. I am not talking about more vacations or more time spent at Toledo Bend. Rather, I am talking about that daily turning off the TV, radio, computer...I am talking about putting down that theology or mission book...I am talking about looking past the present argument on the blog...I am talking about taking a break from memorizing that verse to see that which is obscured by that which is around you and to see that which you will miss if you do not step back.

Jesus said, in John 5:39-40, Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

We can miss so much, if we do not spend time away from that which impedes. Have you seen the "Milky Way" lately?