The Benefits of Staring

Turn, turn, O Perfect One!

Turn, turn, that I may stare at you!

Song of Songs 6:13

 

I have asked the LORD for one thing—

this is what I desire!

I want to live in the LORD’s house all the days of my life,

so I can gaze at the splendor of the LORD

and contemplate in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

I’m staring out an airplane window as I write this. It’s not easy. I’m distracted, interrupted by the announcement that is a bit too loud and the mamma mias of my seatmates as they disagree with the pilot’s delay. Ice crystals that look like scratches have formed on the outside surface of the glass between me and the clouds that create a celestial floor below us.

But I’m determined to stare. I lay my head back against the seat and feel my stillness. I can’t go anywhere anyhow; I may as well stare awhile.

My body begins to relax. I can feel my whole self. My breathing slows, and a subtle, powerful shift takes place in me. People are still chatting around me, but I don’t notice them now. I’m listening to the clouds. They speak in infinitude and impermanence. What I see stretching before me is temporary, though it appears to stretch unending.

The clouds speak to me of vapors, fleeting. I shift in my seat, aware that so am I.

They tell me a cockamamie tale of power, from an ancient age when they were chosen to lead God’s people to freedom (they seem quite proud of that crowning life event in service to their Maker). Pulsing with light, they say a story is circulating that one day they will carry the King of Glory when He returns. I wonder with them what tale of power He might be making in me.

They speak in sunlight, and regale me with their belovedness as the One who created them gazes on them with love, dressing them in a resplendent gown ruffled in sunset. I squint a bit and wonder how I would feel if my Creator gazed at me so intently with eyes of love. The warmth of the sun outside seems to be warming me. I see my white blouse suddenly turn buttery gold, and it looks like the Creator of sunsets is reaching in through the window and dressing me, too.

The clouds, and me. Beloved.

It is good to stare awhile. Don’t wait until you’re strapped in an airplane to do it. Do it today.

Lord, I am learning to stare at You as You stare at me, and it is good. Amen.

 

The benefit of staring at creation with the Creator is that He speaks to our souls marvelous truth and beauty about Himself, and us. #stillness Share on X

@audreycfrank

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash