As we await the arrival of another foal – this time from little miniature horse, “Shadow” – I’ve been looking back at pics from this time last year when Flynn was born. One, in particular, delights me no end.

When we took these pictures, we were, of course, focused on Maddie holding adorable little Flynn. April, protective mom that she was, was never very far away in those early days. But no one was really paying her any attention, so delighted were we in her offspring. So, when I was going through the pictures and saw this, well, I about fell out with laughter. I mean…LOOK!

Oddly, it struck me as I saw it again, that this is a lot like cell phones.

See?

Odd.

But not really, so stay with me.

If you look around today, really, anywhere you go, you will see this:

The familiar, head-down, posture of people lost in their own little cyber world, as the real world continues to turn around them. I am part of this culture. My phone is never far from me, and it’s a struggle (embarrassingly so) to put the dang thing down. But if I don’t, I miss things, just like the folks in the picture are missing whatever is happening beyond their screens. There could be any number of wonderful things going on, children (maybe their own) smiling and performing crazy antics for their delight, one person performing acts of kindness for another, hilariously funny things that could have them laughing their head off all day, if they’d only look up.

Maybe we should all try it today. I mean, there could be a big ol’ mare cheesing it up, right there, just beyond our gaze.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. ~ Proverbs 4:25 ESV