Psalm 105:1-6 (4)
John Adams, the second president of the United States of America was now almost 90 years old. He had outlived his beloved wife Abigail, several of his children, and all of his contemporaries except for his friend Thomas Jefferson. His health was failing. And yet on a sunny day at Peacefield, his Massachusetts farm, Adams took a walk down a country lane with one of his sons. ”I am not tired of life,” he told his son. “I still have hope.” Pausing to catch his breath, he bent over slightly. Concerned, his son said, “It’s time to go home, father.”
Leaning on his son’s shoulder, Adams said, “Rejoice evermore.” Seeing his son’s puzzled look, Adams grabbed his son’s face and laughed. “Rejoice evermore. It’s from Saint Paul, you fool!” Then spying a tiny blossom, he added, “I have seen the queen of France bedecked with millions of dollars in jewelry, but I tell you, there is more beauty in that flower than I ever saw in the court of France.”
As Adams turned to slowly walk back to the house, he said, “Abigail often told me I needed to appreciate the beauty of small things more than I do. She was right. Now I find that if I look at the smallest thing, my imagination begins to roam the Milky Way.” (John Adam’s miniseries)
Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” The question that is before is whether we are blind to the presence of God. “Open my eyes Lord that I might see.”
By Dr. Gayle Woods