The Frame

Putting a frame around life can be a great way to focus our attention.  So much of what we encounter every second of every day is overflowing with messages and meaning...our brains are on over load.  In a second moment I step outside, I can put a frame around so many things.

While it focuses...it also limits ~ feel free to go back and read the post on Monday about paradoxes.  Don't worry...I'll wait.

Frames can limit because something is being excluded...not part of the picture.

Yet, you and I have to do this all the time.

I frame my sermons...editing out certain ideas that in the first drafts seemed so insightful and now seem to not be as amazing as I thought.

I frame my day...there is only so many hours and some things I simply cannot do.

I frame when I am out on a walk with my wife.  She will notice something on the sidewalk or in the sky she has put a frame around that I have totally missed...and sometimes can't even see when I do try to put a frame around it.

Frames are a part of life.  And to connect with the blog post on Wednesday, it is a spiritual practice to frame the good parts of life as a way to counter the negativity bias that is woven/wired into our brains.

So pause with me...what have you framed this week?

In your relationships?
In your volunteering?
In your life?

What might be just beyond the frame...outside of it...that might also be holding more than just a trace of God's grace?

It is my prayer those questions cause your heart to stir and soul to swirl this day and in the days to come.

Blessings ~~