Waking Up

Today, as I drove to my twentieth radiation treatment, I was almost on automatic pilot. Do you know how it is when even something that is out of the ordinary can become so routine?

A Metro bus blocked traffic in front of the hospital for a while causing me to wait but I didn't worry because I had time. Then I looked up. Not far from VHC are two radio or communication towers. The closer one is taller by far. What caught my eye was the fact that two men were being raised on lines, to work on the tower, I assumed. As they went higher and higher, I was amazed by their bravery. I would have been terrified. The sight of them, trusting to the cables and those on the ground who were spotting them, woke me up from being on automatic pilot. I became more observant.

A woman who is almost always after me was there before me. I encountered a group of nursing students--women and men-- walking down the hall. I heard snatches of different conversations than normal. Everything today seemed just a bit out of the ordinary causing me to take more notice.

It reminded me of how often we walk through life no longer seeing the palpable grace at work. Perhaps when we first came to a sense of commitment to follow Christ, we were more aware of God's touch everywhere, but after a while we no longer saw with such fresh eyes. We became habituated to the holy presence, like the two disciples who walked along the road to Emmaus not even realizing that it was Christ himself who walked and talked with him.

Today, my awareness was shocked awake by the sight of the two men high in the air. The two disciples' eyes were opened when they saw Jesus break bread for them. Oh, to stay open to seeing Christ's presence in each moment of the day!