Feeling Invisible?

"Am I invisible? Am I inaudible? Do I merely festoon the room with my presence?" as Christopher Fry was to ask in The Lady's Not for Burning.

I've never read the book or seen the play and probably never will, but I love that quote! It made me laugh out loud when I first read it.

Do you sometimes feel as if you aren't seen or as if no one is listening? Life is such a demanding clamor of people and things. We're pulled in a dozen directions at once, and feel both invisible and inaudible. Who sees who I really am? Who truly listens to what I have to say?

"Honey, I'm home!" translates "Is dinner ready? as husbands need us and expect much of us. "Mommy, where's my bunny? morphs into "Mom, what did you do with my red shirt?" as our children grow. And "Are you coming over? or "Have you called your sister yet?" from parents whose control we long ago thought we were out from under.

It's Time!

Our homes are full of bells and chimes, the washer, dryer, microwave, phones, all beckon us to race to them for attention. When the only warmth and welcome seems to come from a pot full of freshly perked coffee or the brisk scent of brewing tea or the comforting aroma of hot chocolate, maybe it's time to stop and take a break.

Of course, we don't merely festoon our homes with our presence. We are loved by our family and we have sweet glimpses of appreciation.

But what do you do if you feel invisible?

Stop and turn things around. Lift something more than a cup of coffee or a mug of hot chocolate or a glass of tea. There is One to whom you are never invisible or inaudible. Lift your eyes, lift a friend, lift your voice, lift up your soul.

Pray: Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Psalm 123:1

Be there for a friend: For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:10

Sing: Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together . . . Isaiah 52:8a

Seek the Lord: Rejoice the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Psalm 86:4

Praise: Lift up your hands in His Name: Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalm 63:4

They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;

for the majesty of the LORD they

shall cry aloud from the sea.

Isaiah 24:14

God knows your name and loves you: Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing. Isaiah 40:26

Allow God to lift you: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:10

Be uplifted in His peace: The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:26

#

And here are a few quotes I've loved and leaned on for many years. I hope they will lift your spirits and help you to know without a doubt that you are never, ever invisible to the Creator of heaven and earth!

Theresa of Avila said:

"Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works

as for the love with which they are done."

From The Practice of the Presence of God--

"We can do little things for God. I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for the love of him; and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him who has given me Grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king." Brother Lawrence

William Law wrote:

"What ever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank God and praise him for it you turn it into a blessing."

John Oxenham wrote in Bees in Amber--

"Not for one single day

Can I discern my way,

But this I surely know--

Who gives the day,

Will show the way.

So I securely go."

#

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Philippians 4:4

All Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible

It's Time photograph was taken by my daughter, Deborah Sandidge

Photograph of the little girl with her hands raised is my great granddaughter, River.

She's standing in the surf, thrilled with that huge Atlantic Ocean before her.