between beginning and end…
We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words – to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.
C.S. Lewis
Whatever endings you are facing today, whether you’re feeling happy or sad, exhilarated or terrified, relieved or just plain tired, may new beginnings be fresh air for you.
May your every breath be blessed.
It rained today, and when I pulled into the driveway, there were snails everywhere. There’s nothing unusual about that, but on my way to the front door this little hitchhiker caught my attention.
This little baby snail reminded me again of the wonder of God’s creation; the vastness of his starry galaxies, and the tiniest details, even those hidden from the naked eye.
I’m reading Margaret Feinberg’s book Wonderstruck at the moment, and she says it so well:
The sky, the land, the vegetation, the animals all speak of the power, the majesty, the goodness of God. They remind us of God’s presence in our world, strengthening our faith, comforting our soul, and encouraging us to continue pursuing him. The vastness of creation trumpets God’s transcendence and immanence – allowing us to bask in the wonder of both God’s enormity and infinitesimal intricacy.
When I look around at the colours and the diversity of nature, when I feel the breeze on my skin and smell the scent on the air, when I gaze up at the stars, I am reminded of God’s love. And I am encouraged to keep pursuing Him.
What is creation saying to you?
One of the things you quickly discover if you’ve ever used a camera, is the importance of focus.
What you focus on affects what you see.
Inadvertently focusing on the wrong part of a scene may produce very disappointing results, especially if there’s no opportunity to try again.
This is also true of life.
Whatever we focus on, that’s what we see. Sometimes to the exclusion of all else. If we only focus on the things that are going wrong, on what we lack, on mistakes, on imperfections, on irritations, and on defeat – that’s what we see. If what we focus on is negative, what we see is negative. And soon enough what we think, feel and do, will also be negative.
But if we focus on what’s good, on the people we love, on what we have, on the beauty of life, on simple pleasures, on opportunities to take, on lessons learned, on victories won – then that’s what we see.
And these are the things that make us smile, make us laugh, make us wonder, make us give thanks. Even the challenges of life may look different when we start to focus on what’s positive.
…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
These are the things worthy of our attention.
Flourish! 