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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

beautiful


    Sometimes you need to look at something beautiful. Let it be new.  Become surprised by life again, by the subtle way colors change in nature, reminding you that maybe you aren't done yet, either; that maybe there are some good changes that are ruminating within, just on the brink of a metamorphosis.  

   Aren't the colors of these leaves just startling? 

   You think you have life all figured out, that you have a good idea of what fall is like, and if asked, you could say something like, It's when the air turns a little sharper, a little cooler, the leaves change color and start to fall while the days become shorter...And you would answer correctly, but then, you see it and realize you completely forgot the magic of fall.  

   And it's been a whole year since last you'd seen it. Though honestly, the moment you are struck anew by the change all around, you look and look at it with eyes as wide as a child's, with eyes that for all purposes, might have never seen this season, this brilliance before, because it's that new.  

   And you fall in love with life again.  You draw comfort from the fact that God is not simply utilitarian, not just pragmatic in his thinking and his designs; no, he is the first Romantic, the ultimate Dreamer, the Poet that wrote your existence and somehow finds cadence in yesterday, bringing them into some kind of rhythm with today, even making it rhyme with tomorrow, as difficult as that can be to believe.  

   He doesn't just decide that the leaves should fall, that the trees should become barren before the long winter, He colors them first, creating strokes of brilliance as we walk to work, to meet a friend, to get in our car and drive far from our homes.  He creates beauty all around us, and most especially, within us.  

  And I am struck by it.  I hope to never grow used to beauty, never feel like I've seen it all. I hope that, no matter how many days I am gifted on this earth, I will be surprised by the beauty of the day...

*picture was taken outside our home here in Toronto by Gabi Ruiz*

7 comments:

merry said...

Beauty.

Anonymous said...

There is something so powerful about getting out into nature. It connects us immediately to God. That's why I like hiking. You get to see many things that God has made and it brings life.

Anonymous said...

I love fall, I love that riot of color...sort of a last hurrah before all the gray and white of winter!

Nicely done, Jess. I really like Gabi's picture, too.

christine said...

I have been enjoying fall a little extra this year I think. The colors here were especially beautiful. I really like the picture Gabi took, it's a good thing you gave her credit or you might have had another "angry" photographer on your hands : )

peaj said...

Well said, Jess. And beautiful picture.

Fall is my favorite season, mostly for the color display. However, there is also something sweet about the melancholy of fall when you know that there will be spring again.

Here is a link that is wonderful, but should be used in moderation:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=fall+colors

Jessica said...

Well Christine, I have you to thank for that lesson learned;-)

and thanks for the link, Peaj!

Nina said...

That's a great photograph. And I agree with you. Fall is absolute magic.