Rev. Tom Thorpe is a faculty member at Unity Institute and Seminary, and host of Discovering Eric Butterworth on Unity Online Radio. This excerpt is from his book Through a Loving Lens: Gentle Observations About Life, Love and God.

By Rev. Tom Thorpe

One of the great metaphysical days of the year is Groundhog Day. On a hill called Gobbler's Knob, outside of the city of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania … a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will be coaxed out of his burrow. It's been said that Phil never comes out of his burrow willingly. A fellow in a top hat usually drags him out. Phil will stand in the sunshine, if there is sunshine. If he sees his shadow, he'll go back into his burrow and we'll be faced with six more weeks of winter. If Phil doesn't see his shadow, we'll know we can look forward to an early spring.

Groundhogs become frightened and look for a place to hide when they see their shadows. We humans sometimes do the same thing.

It has been said that we see things not as they are but as we are. We see the world through the lenses of our own perception, our own not-always-obvious belief systems. Each of us looks through a unique pair of lenses at Gods universe, at ourselves and at other people.

Too often our lenses show us a distorted image. Sometimes, in a moment of insight, we'll see clearly what's really going on within us. We'll recognize some of the distortion we have created. We might find ourselves tempted to hide from what we've discovered, preferring the comfort of our illusions to the revealing light of truth.

Information really is power. So when we discover something about ourselves that's troubling, we have reason to celebrate. Discovery offers us the option to respond, to address the issue that has caused us to be upset. If we didn't know we were upset, we couldn't do much about it. But once we know, we have a place to begin the work of self-transformation.

This is God's universe, it's said. All through it is evidence of God—where God has been … where God is … what God is doing. When we look around us, do we see the presence of God or do we see something else?

Often what we see depends on where we're focusing our attention on a particular day. For example, one of my favorite cartoon characters, Ziggy, was driving in his little car one day, when he saw a sign that said, “Beautiful world the next 24,902 miles” (the circumference of the world). That day the whole world really was beautiful … at least for Ziggy.

Another day Ziggy was pondering and saying, “I don't remember what I wanted to be when I grew up, but this wasn't it.”

Still another day he was telling his psychiatrist, “I've finally gotten in touch with my inner child and discovered that he's been in juvenile detention for 25 years.”

On what must have been a more positive day, Ziggy stood on a hillside, looking at the sunset, and applauded.

All of these states of mind are present in Ziggy, and they're present in you and me.

When we feel like Ziggy in one of his “not so good” days we can ask God to show us what we're not seeing, to show us the treasure that may be hiding in the shadows we hesitate to look at. “Show me, God, what I am not seeing.” You might amend the request a bit (you always have the right to amend your prayers) and say, “Show me, God, Your good that I'm not seeing.” Or “Show me, God, Your love that I'm not seeing. Or, “Show me, God, the opportunities to be love, to share love that I'm not sharing.”

I pray that all of us continue to discover that God is, indeed, accessible, a very real presence in our lives. I pray that each of us makes our commitment to look always for God and toward God, and I pray that we renew that commitment on a daily basis.

Once we've made that commitment, there may still be times when we'll be frightened by what we see. Like the groundhog, we may want to hide in our burrow. Every time we choose to look for and toward God, though, we stand a little taller and stronger in the light of God's Truth.