New year, new adventures?

Borrowed for a Blog, a photo by bobmendo on Flickr.

They say it's a matter of perspective. Sometimes it's a matter of personality. How do you look on the future? How do you look at things which lie ahead but about which you know very little? I found this photo by the Norwegian Tom Eikrem on Stumble Upon today. And found it descriptive of just this issue.

To be sure, the spookiness of the clouds across the lightweight bridge is a bit off-putting. I think most of us prefer ease in travel, and comfort in the assurance of what's ahead. Not many of us want to sit in a 747 crossing the Pacific Ocean flying blind with only instruments to guide us. We would want clear skies, and plenty of visibility for our pilots.

But then there are some pilots who don't mind such adventures. Anyone can fly when the visibility is infinite. Only the best pilots can fly in low clouds and tougher conditions. So one man's discomfort is another man's adventure. For one it's annoyance or even trauma; for another it's a mountain to conquer.

It's a matter of perspective or of personality.

Five years ago my wife and I crossed the Mossman Gorge near Cairns, Queensland. This bridge called the Swing Bridge was at best teetering. Bridge photo I can only imagine the apprehension we would have felt had it been cloudy that day.

So what do you feel about a new year? It's 5774 in the Jewish calendar now. And last night was the Chinese Moon festival (brightest moon of the year). For many in the Northern Hemisphere a new school year has begun.

How do you view things ahead? Worry, anxiety, crippled with fears? Or are youlooking forward, no matter the cloudy conditions, to the other side?

If you honestly believe the Bible, and trust the One who wrote it, then you are informed by the verse that is well-known, but not always believed: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3.5-6)

I heartily recommend you trust God. Lean on Him. Believe in Him in all your circumstances of life-- university, dating, child-rearing, burials of friends and relatives, new jobs, new routines-- and He will guide you.

By the way, that's His promise, not mine. It's all a matter of gaining His perspective.