Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?

Are you familiar with this book by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle?

It's great for rhyming, teaching colors, basic vocabulary, etc.  It's one I use when I teach elementary kids Spanish («Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?»).

The title popped into my head randomly the other day (hurray for random thoughts!) and caused my brain to travel down the following road.

--"Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?"
--"I see a red bird looking at me."

When you look out into the world, what do you see? 

When I look out today, what I see is an overcast day with raindrops hitting the ground.  From my point of view, it looks pretty yucky.  I'm not really certain I desire to venture out into it.

What if I were to look through the spyglass?  Then, what would I see?  Would I see differently?

The spyglass?  What's that?  Let me explain.

I first heard about The Spyglass at the Holston Annual Conference a few years ago.  During one of the evening sessions, Bishop Swanson read the book to the gathered community.  Before reading, he invited all the children up to the stage.  Not knowing what the age cut-off for "children" was, I decided to join the group heading toward the stage. 

The Spyglass is written by Richard Paul Evans.  It is about a king and his faltering, disheartened kingdom.  A traveler comes through and shows the king a spyglass, through which the king is able to see an entirely different kingdom.  A kingdom that is vibrant once again.  The king's faith is sparked through this vision and he shares this vision with those around, inspiring them as he works alongside with them.

So, when I look at the day or even people, am I looking at them and seeing only what is or what can become?  Am I willing to look beyond what is and look to what can be?  Am I looking with eyes of faith? 

I hope that like the king, I can catch the vision of what can become.  For this day, for each person, for this kingdom. 

As the king worked hard alongside others to make the vision come true, may we do the same.

What is the vision?  Taking the storyline from The Spyglass, it is people coming together in community, working together, loving one another, helping one another, building one another up, meeting one another's needs... while taking care of the resources of the kingdom.

But, The Spyglass is just a story, it's just another children's book.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  If enough people caught the vision and were ignited into action, then I imagine change would become more a reality than a possibility.

Looking through the spyglass as I continue my journey,

~Debra