Opera | Wayfarer

“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” Matthew 6:22-23 (MSG)

One of the things that I love about my wife is the way we both enjoy seeing, experiencing and living with wide eyed wonder. The other week we went to the opera. It was not something I foresee us doing on a regular basis, but we were both awed by the experience which was unique for both of us. We sat in wide-eyed wonder at the entire experience, and then enjoyed sharing our wonder and the lessons learned.

Over this past weekend we watched two fascinating movies. One produced a wonderful conversation about reality and dreams. The other prompted an interesting conversation about, and appreciation for, community.

I don’t understand squinty-eyed living. God is so vast. His works are so infinite. Each day’s journey can be a glorious, wide-eyed exploration of Life that produces light, knowledge, wisdom, understanding and love in increasing measure.

Chapter-a-Day Matthew 5 (tomvanderwell.wordpress.com)
Matthew 6:24-34 (cl3gold.wordpress.com)
Matthew (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)

Wendy’s birthday was back in December, but she will tell you that I feel a lot of pressure that time of year. Wendy’s birthday, Christmas, and our wedding anniversary fall within ten days of each other. So, I’ve got to come up with a lot of gifts in a short period of time.

Last year I picked up on something Wendy said during a normal evening conversation. She’d never been to the opera. That started the wheels spinning. The other thing I know about Wendy is that she loves to spend time with her friends. So, the conspiracy began to plan a trip to the opera with our friends, the Vande Lunes.

The only problem in the plan was that the best time to get to the opera was March. So, Wendy got the tickets on her birthday, but this past weekend was the actual experience.

We headed to the Windy City on St. Patrick’s Day, arriving in time to have a pint o’ Guinness at an Irish pub up the street from our hotel. Friday night we dressed to the nines for our dinner at the Opera House followed by a performance of Bizet‘s Carmen.

The ladies, of course, wanted to shop with some of our free time. We also enjoyed some great food, some well earned naps, and a fun night at the piano bar up the street. Our weekend was perfectly capped off with a trip to the House of Blues for their Gospel Brunch. We couldn’t be more thankful to the Vande Lunes for sharing the experience with us.

Happy Birthday, my love!