Standing on the beach watching the waves roll in and break on the shore, water spreading across the sand in flat layers of foam. The tide washes over your feet, dragging the sand out from under you.
Back … and forth. In … and out.
Your feet begin to sink. If you stand still long enough, you are no longer on the beach, but in it.
It’s a timeless kind of moment. A moment for thinking, for reflecting, for dreaming…
Or just for being.
I love Autumn. It’s my favourite season. I love the glorious profusion of changing colours in the foliage. I love the way the leaves seem to glow as the sunlight filters through them.
I’m constantly amazed at how much attention to detail God has taken over his creation; how stunning and often surprising he designed it to be. And how privileged we are to be able to appreciate it.
I took this photo in Mt Lofty Botanic Garden, one of my favourite places to spend time. I just wanted to share it with you. I hope it brings a little beauty into your day.
The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I took this photo during the weekend. Even though the landscape is starting to be revived by the autumn rains, after continuous drought in previous years, many trees have died from sustained lack of water. You don’t have to look very hard to find the skeletal remains of once-majestic trees stretching their fingers into the sky.
When I look at this photo, I am reminded that there is no life without water. No physical life without natural water. No spiritual life without living water.
And the angel showed me [John] a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let each one who hears them say, “Come.” Let the thirsty ones come – anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge.Revelation 22:1-2, 17
These are all from my garden. I love that they’re still flowering as we move into autumn.
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
~ Rabindranath Tagore
It’s funny how when you start looking for things, they suddenly seem to be in front of you all the time. Since I started looking for the beautiful gifts around me, they seem to be in greater abundance. Yesterday morning I was walking out of my front door to catch the bus for work, and I was suddenly aware of the tiny flowers on the butterfly plants (gaura) in my garden. There was a light misty rain and the flowers were covered in tiny raindrops. I had to stop and capture the moment.
And yes, I still made it in time to catch the bus.
What have you looked for, that you now seem to notice all the time?
“How should men and women regard and treat each other if they are both truly faithful to the gospel of Christ and value truth more than personal power?” This is the question that Dr Sarah Sumner seeks to answer in her book Men and Women in the Church: building consensus on Christian leadership.
I first came across this book when I heard Dr Sumner speak at a 2011 Writers Conference hosted by Bethel Church in Redding, California. (Thanks to Bethel Church and the Internet I was able to watch a recording of Dr Sumner’s session). A theologian and Dean of A. W. Tozer Theological Seminary in California, Dr Sumner talked about good writing, sharing some of her story as a writer, particularly in relation to writing Men and Women in the Church. I found her story so interesting that I wanted to read the book.
I wasn’t disappointed. Men and Women in the Church is carefully researched and the theology explained clearly and logically. Sumner’s style is also engaging and highly readable, even when navigating some of the more challenging passages of scripture. This book is not for everyone, and for that reason I won’t go into specifics. However, if you have an interest in church leadership, and in particular the place of women in church leadership, then Dr Sumner’s book is definitely worth reading.
This was the second book from my Shelf of the Unread list. I’m now reading Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.
It was dark. It was gloomy. Pre-dawn and I was in the car looking for the right location for a great sunrise photo. Anyone who knows me well, knows that early mornings are not really my thing. For me to be up and out of the house that early is a big deal – it usually requires a red-eye flight and a 50 minute drive to the airport for me to be up before the sun.
But this morning there was no sunrise.
No sign of the sun any where. Everything was grey and misty. And instead of reaping the reward of a gorgeous sunrise I got to watch the mist simply become a paler shade of grey.
Not happy.
And then it dawned on me (pun intended). Perspective. It’s all in the way I see it. I could remain ‘not happy’ because I didn’t get what I wanted, or I could look for the gift in what I did have. Hmm, that sounds familiar.
Look for the gift given.
My compact camera isn’t a big fan of low light, but here’s my favourite shot from this misty morning.
I look at it now and I see the beauty in the landscape, remember the moist air on my skin, and the birds warbling ‘good morning’ in the trees. And it was a good morning.
I think of other situations and events happening in my life – things I’d rather not do, pain I’d rather not face, stresses, disappointments and frustrations. I often encourage others to look for the ‘silver lining’ in their grey clouds. I think it’s time to take my own advice, and change my perspective.
Maybe one day I will be quicker to see the good in what appears to be bad, the beauty in the ugly, the lesson in the mistake. Maybe one day I will be able to consider it all joy (James 1:2-3). But today, I will just be thankful for the misty morning.
Is there something in your life that would benefit from a change of perspective?
