Hi, all! Just a thought to help start your weekend.

The weather where we live has been strange lately, to say the least. In the past month, we have experienced the coldest temperatures we’ve had in quite some time, we’ve had more rain than our flat yard and the pot holes in the county roads can handle, we’ve had threats of tornadoes, and the fog this Sunday morning was so thick that it was an adventure driving to church. All of those conditions make it rather difficult to see what’s in front of you as you travel. It’s hard to see through the distortions.

I took this picture from a top level of a beautiful old home in suburban Atlanta a few years ago. I was looking through the round window upstairs to the view down below of the manicured lawn, rock wall, and beyond.

The yards around that home were magnificent. There were huge planters with even bigger greenery inside them. There was a gorgeous large fountain. And the grass was very well-kept and a pretty shade of green. But it’s hard to see all of that from this one little round window so high above. My views were distorted.

Do you have a distorted view of the world around you? Do you really see the hurting faces and the needs of your friends and coworkers? Or is your view distorted by your narrow view and the limited time you take to gaze in their direction?

The only way I could see clearly the lawn of that great home was to get out there on it and walk around. The only way I could get to church this past Sunday was to concentrate on the road and drive through the fog. The only way we will be helpful in meeting the needs of those around us is to get out of our comfort zone and get close to the people.

That’s just my view. I pray you’ll make it yours for the week ahead. Get past the distractions. Look at the bigger picture. And make a difference in a stormy, foggy, nasty world that has a greatly distorted view of what a Christian really is. Show them a clearer view as you work to have a clearer view for yourself.

Just a thought. ’Til later.

Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.