Reflection
Sometimes we don’t see what is beautiful because it is so familiar. We sometimes tend to take people for granted when we know them very well. We may see their flaws clearly and miss their goodness. This is also true of our experience of the natural world, of the many small miracles of everyday living. Becoming so used to all that is around us and within us, we deprive ourselves of a great opportunity for a more meaningful and enriching life. The wonder and beauty of everyday things becomes commonplace and we lose our sense of surprise.
Prayer
Open my eyes, O God, that I may see things as you see them.
Action
Where in my life do I allow ”familiarity to breed contempt”?
How can I correct this attitude?
Suggested Reading
Jesus departed from there and came to his
native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach
in the synagogue, and many who heard him
were astonished. They said, “Where did this
man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and
Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Mark 6:1-6
The real voyage of discovery comes not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust
Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder.
Tierney Gearon
Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
Voltaire
Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.
Camille Pissarro
Make it a habit to tell people thank you. Express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.
Ralph Marston
The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship.
Amelia Earhart
Learn to see and to feel life; that is, cultivate imagination, because there are still marvels in the world, because life is a mystery and always will be. But be aware of it.
Josef Albers
Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful.
A. R. Ammons
Admiration and familiarity are strangers.
George Sand