What Color Is the Sky In Your World Where You Fish?

Well, for me, it depends. I kind of live in a bubble of my own.

I choose this bubble because for the most part I find our culture to be quite flat. Since I am a part of this culture I guess that flatness is also my fault. I am just not sure what to do about it. So, I often stay “inside” my bubble and insist the sky is the color that I see.

I find this inner world I often live in to be quite rich. It is most often quite richer than what lies outside me. It is different. In my bubble I see images from long past or from far ahead. They are preserved in my mind and heart. They remain.

I often wonder if others see the same images. I wonder what color the sky is in their world. I wonder if others have inner worlds of their own.

I know some poets who have the vision to speak of the importance of these inner images. As Rilke said, “The man who cannot quietly close his eyes certain that there is vision after vision inside, simply waiting until nighttime to rise all around him in darkness- its all over for him. Nothing else will come; no more days will open.”

To not see these internal images is to have only this world,; this flat culture we live in. In that sense, if this  is all we have, "it is all over".  As Christians we should have the richest collection of images because, at least in theory, we have "seen" some of the kingdom. "We came into this world trailing clouds of Glory", and those glorious images need us to remember them. 

Perhaps the images need us as much as we need them. The images need us to continue to hold on to them and reflect them in the world.  If we think this flat superficial Christian culture is all we have for our inner worlds; if this is all there is to the kingdom, then we have settled for a form of religion. In fact, we have settled for a very boring form of  religion.

These images I see before my heart give me hope.. They comfort me.  They are deep and loving companions. They promise to rise before me as long as I invite them, wondering if somewhere the sky is a deeper blue.

A deep, deep blue sky over the rivers I fish.