Recently, I was speaking to a group of interns at our church when I found myself glancing out the window briefly. It was hard not to notice that a dense fog had descended over the Pacific Northwest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being a meteorological nerd, I\u2019m always aware of what is happening with the weather and that day was no exception. As a kid growing up on a farm, following the weather was like a UPS driver putting on his brown uniform \u2014 it just came with the territory. Yesterday\u2019s fog was due to a stalled high pressure system that was stagnant over the Seattle area. Not only was the high pressure system stagnant, so was the air. There was literally NO wind. The stagnation ultimately resulted in a burn ban in many areas in order to prevent further ramifications of this stalled weather system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve experienced fog like this, particular a winter fog, you know that that the thick layer distracts everyone. It\u2019s difficult to drive and everything is impacted. I can remember as a kid having two hour delays to the start of the school day because it wasn\u2019t safe for the school buses to be on the road. This recent PNW fog was similar. On Day 1, 100% of the flights were canceled, and on the second, 65%. Normal clouds that typically fly several hundred, if not thousands of feet in the sky, descended to ground level and quickly shut everything down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In contrast, if you\u2019ve ever successfully flown on a day like this, you\u2019ll know that upon takeoff, you quickly find that the sun is shining really bright above the fog. It\u2019s a bit surreal when that happens. One moment you socked in; the next, it\u2019s like nothing ever happened. All it takes is an increase in altitude to experience clear vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that moment while looking out the window, I was struck by the fact that I feel like our country has been stuck in a metaphorical fog for the last 2+ years. We can\u2019t see straight and can\u2019t focus. We\u2019re easily distracted by what\u2019s going on around us. When we normally are looking 10 miles in the distance, today we\u2019re hyper focused on what\u2019s right in front of us. As a result, on our best days we\u2019re agitated; on our worst, we\u2019re flat out angry and nasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wonder what would happen if we were to elevate ourselves above the thickening clouds in order to gain a new perspective? What if we were to stop being distracted by all of the noise of the political systems and started raising the altitude of our perspective? What if we were to take our eyes off the vaccinated or unvaccinated .... the masked or unmasked ... the Democrats or Republicans ... the right or the left ... and elevated our vision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think this is what Jesus did when he came to this earth. His arrival was to point us to a different reality ... a different Kingdom ... a different perspective. While many were wanting to trip him up by asking divisive questions, he continually redirected and elevated the conversation taking on a higher perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These days, I\u2019m trying to take that point of view. While it\u2019s easy for me to get focused on all of the important issues in front of me and find fault in those with which I don\u2019t agree, I\u2019m making a conscious choice to elevate myself above the fog. Some days I succeed; others, not so much. I am trying to focus on an eternal Kingdom ... a Kingdom that supersedes any country, government, belief, or political system. I\u2019m trying to have a Kingdom perspective. I think that perspective can likely clear any remnants of a fog. And I wonder if we might become a little more decent ... and kind ... and caring. I know many of are looking, hoping, and believing for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, I was speaking to a group of interns at our church when I found myself glancing out the window briefly. It was hard not to notice that a dense fog had descended over the Pacific Northwest. Being a meteorological nerd, I\u2019m always aware of what is happening with the weather and that day was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":115582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"I feel like our country has been stuck in a metaphorical fog for the last 2+ years. We can\u2019t see straight and can\u2019t focus. We\u2019re easily distracted by what\u2019s going on around us. Read more in my recent blog post.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[31],"tags":[129,6,7,127],"class_list":["post-115580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","tag-kingdom","tag-life","tag-ministry","tag-weather"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-photo-4504068-1.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pzg9k-u4c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1515,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/when-it-just-doesnt-go-your-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":115580,"position":0},"title":"When It Just Doesn’t Go Your Way","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"November 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's face it. We've all had days where things didn't go quite like we expected. We had a plan and that plan was in motion. Suddenly everything gets changed. I had a week like that recently. Things were moving along when suddenly the brakes got applied by someone else driving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1019,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/changing-seasons-repost\/","url_meta":{"origin":115580,"position":1},"title":"Changing Seasons (repost)","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"March 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier today I happened to read a post that I wrote on this blog over a year a half ago. As I read it again, I am a bit freaked out that I actually wrote this. So much has happened since that time (including an actual trip to Maui that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2207,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/following-a-life-of-generosity\/","url_meta":{"origin":115580,"position":2},"title":"Following a Life of Generosity","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"November 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanksgiving was my dad\u2019s favorite holiday. While the rest of the family favored Christmas, he always loved Thanksgiving. One of those reasons was likely rooted in his profession as a farmer, and Thanksgiving was the natural culmination of his year-long efforts. 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I kept postponing the planning but finally began searching for a close vacation spot that didn\u2019t break the bank. After a few back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1378,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/ski-slopes-snow-days-and-facing-fear\/","url_meta":{"origin":115580,"position":4},"title":"Ski Slopes, Snow Days, and Facing Fear","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"March 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This week my family took a \u201csnow day.\u201d It wasn\u2019t because the weather was bad, and we couldn\u2019t get out the driveway. My niece was visiting from Indiana over her college spring break. So what does every midwesterner do when they visit Colorado in the winter? They go skiing, of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1090,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/maybe-its-time-to-layoff-a-few-circus-jugglers\/","url_meta":{"origin":115580,"position":5},"title":"Maybe It’s Time to Layoff a Few Circus Jugglers","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"February 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I am confronted with this issue every single day of my life. I have been for quite a while but this one seems to get bigger rather than smaller. Here's my observation \u2014 we're all busy; too busy. American is filled with more to do. We have endless entertainment choices,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/20130216-234859.jpg?fit=272%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115580"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115583,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115580\/revisions\/115583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}