Yesterday I stood at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean during a stormy sunrise. The beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina stretched out of sight in both directions. The deep blue clouds, lighted from above were a thing of rare beauty. The strong, gusty winds pushed me around like one of the few brave seagulls. But what overwhelmed me most was the inescapable salty aroma that heralded the transition from continent to ocean, the edge of two…
Early this morning, I had a high definition dream that seemed longer and more real than most. I was being driven through a landscape of decaying and ruined buildings that I recognized as parts of buildings I had leased or worked in during my lifetime. The scene resembled the aftermath of a devastating tornado or a bombed-out industrial site. Of course, each recollection of past failures had, attached to it, regret and pain. It didn’t take long to realize…
There is nothing quite like a walk on a wooded path on a Summer morning. Mostly, the journey goes on as expected but, from time to time, I find myself engulfed in a pungent aroma of honeysuckle or jasmine. I am at once overwhelmed and enraptured by the encounter. It reconnects me to the beauty that is beyond me. My heart is flush with wonder and gratitude. Our life-journey is similar to travel along such a path – long stretches of…
In Noah’s time, just after the earth-destroying flood, the rainbow is conspicuously present as God promises Noah and his family grace in the place of judgement. The rainbow is also on display when the Apostle John first looks in on the great scene of worship around God’s throne in the Revelation. Why the rainbow? The rainbow teaches us many things about God’s creation. It is also a striking visual declaration of the omnipotence of our Creator. We see the beauty of Jesus in…
What suffering, what beauty Is on the Savior’s brow The thorns that grew in tended soil Grow pain and sorrow now The flowering vine once flourished, blessed Makes red the lovely face That wept in longing for his beloved And now stands in her place What beauty, what suffering Was only his to bear Embracing there the cost of love No other soul could share The gathering arms that ever reach to circle all his own Hold tightly to a…
As I look out of my window at the Tulip tree, one week before Spring, I am both thankful and, a little regretful that the blooms are already covering the lawn with a beautiful carpet of white and pink. It seems as though they began to bloom, in full, a day ago. Our thrill of their heart-pleasing beauty comes less than once a year (some years a late frost prematurely wipes out the blooms). In God’s world – the one…