Bird's-Eye View

Yesterday, i went for lunch to a friend's third-floor apartment. The window beside the kitchen table looked out on a budding maple tree, which made me feel like i was in a tree house. Those buds and tiny flowers are beautiful up close--30 feet up in the air. A real bird's-eye view.

If we had a bird's eye view of our life, how would it look? Encased in our five or six feet of skin, flesh, and bone, it all feels up close and personal. Very I-me-mine.

But what if we could look at that person walking down the street in our body or driving a car from an altitude? What if we could see the big picture?

Hmmm, we might say. She's so worried, so busy in her own mind, and she's really missing the beauty all around her.

Like the spring green springing forth Like the budding maple trees. Oh, joy! Joy is right here.