TheBanyanTree: What gifts God gives us

[LLDeMerle]

I came over here to do something at the computer, and was blinded by the
sun through the great window, here.  I turned my head at an angle to
avoid the brightness.  The trees are heavy-laden with snow, wrapped
around their bases like soft, white, shimmering blankets.  Occasionally,
great clumps of snow fall from higher branches in the woods, leaving
impressions where they land.  The sun illuminates the finest of
crystalline powder sifting down from the sky so that it glimmers like
diamonds in every direction.

I put Quiet Reflections on, by John Michael Talbot and have been here
for almost an hour.  The sun has moved, now, so that most of the
glittering snow show isn't visible, but if I lean to the right, I can
see a bit of it here and there.  The woods are still illuminated,
glittering, the smaller branches losing their grip on their
accumulations, taking with them what the lower branches hold on their
way down.

Every now and then a flake turns just so and I can again see a glimmer.
This is so reminiscent of our seen and unseen worlds.  We can look into
the face of something devastating and be jarred or shaken, but if we
adjust ourselves and tilt our gaze, an entirely new world opens up to
us, one full of glimmering beauty and confirmation of God's incomparable
existence, His ever-present-ness.  Though a shadow now obscures the
glimmering, I know that it is still there from what I can see in the
distance, much like from what we can see of our pasts.  Even in the
shadow, miraculously, there is still a handful of light-catching
crystals, in their way, even more beautiful than the previous display
because of their rarity.  They remind me that when I am in the shadow,
God still shows me his mercy in little ways to remind me that he is
here, always and not forgotten me as I make my journey, seemingly alone.


LL