CALLED SOUGHT OUT

“You shall be called Sought Out …”

      -- Isaiah 62:19 (Bible, Amplified Version)

Isaiah said the Israelites would be called Sought Out, but perhaps, in a sense, everything in this universe should be known by the same name. All things, from specks of sand to the spreading stars, from the look of lamplight in my living room to the sunset luster on the Mystic River, should be desired, searched for, and sought out. There’s so much in my life that is in some way wonderful, but often it needs to be pursued with single-mindedness. Even though goodness gives its gifts second by second, sometimes it has to be seriously searched for. Sitting with my laptop near the lights of the Christmas tree this morning, I think of small miracles I can look for today – the way red ribbons beautify a box, the way cars cruise smoothly on well-constructed streets, the way the smiles of friends can send happiness out like sunshine. Driving to our friends for Christmas dinner, I can seek out the looks of pleasure on faces I pass. I can watch for winter’s beauty in whole blocks of towns – bare limbs that look shiny in the sunlight, roofs as clean as a clear sky. I can call a carefully dressed man on a street corner Sought After, and Sought After, too, will be a soaring seagull above Providence, as well as my wife’s slim seashell earrings beside her cheeks.