I ran across something I wrote in 2004. The first thing that struck me was “my son knows 100% more about windows than I do because he’s in the replacement field, rather, a wrapping specialist.”
Windows Open Worlds
I am drawn to windows. A window can represent different things, and have separate meanings, depending on the time and circumstances of our life’s journey. I may be on the inside looking out, or catch a glimpse from the outside looking in.
Put me in a windowless hospital corridor, and I lose my bearings. Once, in the cavernous bowels of a ship, I almost cried for a glimpse of the sky. A basement is not for me, unless it is a walk-out with plenty of glass. I do need windows.
There is a double picture window in the kitchen, a window that looks out over the treetops and the creek in the distance—also viewed from my upstairs study and sewing rooms.
I pause when I hear the cliché “window of opportunity.” It depends on the timing—and can represent a season, a mood, or even a place. A window provides an invitation, a glimpse, another world, God’s creation, someone’s life. A window may signify hope, change, green pastures (in summer), dreams, a secure, blanketed landscape (in winter), wildlife, or freedom.
Sometimes the window of opportunity presents itself through a photograph or a painting. Often when I see a picture from my childhood, I replay a scene from memory. Just for the fun of it, I typed that phrase, “window of opportunity,” into my search engine. Oh my. There were over three million hits on the Web (and that was in 2004!). When the getting is good, a window of opportunity covers a multitude of prospects: finances, love, family planning, education, job, war, peace, salvation, sports, identity theft, health, prayer.
Sayings about windows abound, such as the familiar “Eyes are the windows to the soul.” Food for thought there. “God closes a door and opens a window.” Webster says a window is an opening to admit light and air.
At home when I gaze through the glass to the outside, my focus goes to the trees. A tree marks the seasons, the sky reveals sun or clouds. Tree branches give rest and sustenance to legged and winged creatures, reveals or exposes, depending upon the season.
A window invites or repels, reveals what awaits you on the other side. From the inside I can stare, fixate even. From the outside I may need to be furtive with a peek.
Life is not meant to be lived in limbo. Each day represents a window of opportunity, rather than a problem, a chance to make choices. From the simple completion of a household task to the life-changing decisions that we all have to face at some time or another, make each window count.
Go through that window, wherever that window may lead.
I am drawn to windows. A window can represent different things, and have separate meanings, depending on the time and circumstances of our life’s journey. I may be on the inside looking out, or catch a glimpse from the outside looking in.
Put me in a windowless hospital corridor, and I lose my bearings. Once, in the cavernous bowels of a ship, I almost cried for a glimpse of the sky. A basement is not for me, unless it is a walk-out with plenty of glass. I do need windows.
There is a double picture window in the kitchen, a window that looks out over the treetops and the creek in the distance—also viewed from my upstairs study and sewing rooms.
I pause when I hear the cliché “window of opportunity.” It depends on the timing—and can represent a season, a mood, or even a place. A window provides an invitation, a glimpse, another world, God’s creation, someone’s life. A window may signify hope, change, green pastures (in summer), dreams, a secure, blanketed landscape (in winter), wildlife, or freedom.
Sometimes the window of opportunity presents itself through a photograph or a painting. Often when I see a picture from my childhood, I replay a scene from memory. Just for the fun of it, I typed that phrase, “window of opportunity,” into my search engine. Oh my. There were over three million hits on the Web (and that was in 2004!). When the getting is good, a window of opportunity covers a multitude of prospects: finances, love, family planning, education, job, war, peace, salvation, sports, identity theft, health, prayer.
Sayings about windows abound, such as the familiar “Eyes are the windows to the soul.” Food for thought there. “God closes a door and opens a window.” Webster says a window is an opening to admit light and air.
At home when I gaze through the glass to the outside, my focus goes to the trees. A tree marks the seasons, the sky reveals sun or clouds. Tree branches give rest and sustenance to legged and winged creatures, reveals or exposes, depending upon the season.
A window invites or repels, reveals what awaits you on the other side. From the inside I can stare, fixate even. From the outside I may need to be furtive with a peek.
Life is not meant to be lived in limbo. Each day represents a window of opportunity, rather than a problem, a chance to make choices. From the simple completion of a household task to the life-changing decisions that we all have to face at some time or another, make each window count.
Go through that window, wherever that window may lead.
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