Looking Up

The church we pass on the bus (I mean, of course, one of the very many we pass, this one in fact one of three in 2 blocks) has a new quip on their sign:

Sorrow looks back
Worry looks around
Faith looks up

Of course, as soon as I saw it I thought

Hope looks ahead

And then dismissed it - I thought. But on the way I kept thinking about it. Faith looks up? Up? Where does that get you, looking up while you're walking? You'll trip over the curb, the rabbit hole, the slightest bit of uneven ground; you'll walk into trees; and you'll walk over the edge of the abyss.

And even if you're Wile E. Coyote, the minute you realize you're no longer on the ground, you'll fall.

Yes, it's true that spending all your time looking behind in sorrow achieves nothing. The past may be a lesson, but it can't be a choice, or a place to live. Looking around is better, but if you get mired in fear - or worry - and spend all your time looking over your shoulder or out of the corner of your eye, never trusting anyone, what does that gain you?

Of course, there are other reasons for glancing behind you, or around, every now and then. Experience and prudence are two. Observation and education are others. And looking ahead? Planning needs to be done. Just living in the moment, with no thought for the future - not even birds do that. But looking up? Unless there's a meteor coming for you, that doesn't tell you anything useful - and even then, what are you going to do? Or the weather - but nowadays you get more useful weather information from the meteorologists than the sky.

So I finished up the little slogan in my mind:

Reason looks where it's going.

There you have it - a useful philosophy. You can preface with the others for a punchier delivery, but it's that last line that makes all the difference. Reason will take you somewhere, and get you there safely.