Sunday Morning. Me and mine head off for church. A time to quiet the mind and hopefully get inspired for my week ahead. I love going to church, I love my church. It is old and small and simple. When I'm there in the building I feel a connection to a great power. This Sunday though, my connection was to the tree outside the window. I sit on the right side of the church, third row back. I have a clear shot of that beautiful tree that sits very close to the sidewalk. Today it caught my eye with it's tiny pink buds. The light was just right at 10:15 to wander through it's branches. Today that tree and those branches were speaking directly to me.
The message was a simple one. Beauty is outside this building. Beauty is in this tree. The tree that tells me that we are in the Spring season. The season of re-newal. Each year, for a short time, we are reminded that life and birth go on. That there is a flower in that bulb and that we should slow down, breathe that scent in. The hymn that began playing was amazing. It spoke to me just as the tree did. I knew that today Mikes' sermon would once again be wonderful, as it always is, but I knew today I was taking home the image of that tree and the words of that song. They told me of God's beauty in the simplest of ways.
I knew as I sat there that I was so blessed. All I have to do each day is look at my family. My husband, my kids and now my grandson. The smiles on their faces tells me all I need to know about goodness and love. Beauty lives in them and I am grateful. The tree with it's buds, the sky, the moon, each star at night, all tell of an infinite beauty provided for us by a Higher Power. All we need to do is stop every once in awhile and enjoy it, giving thanks for such a display of greatness. I sat in church today with a full heart, knowing that I can see beauty whenever I choose. I can take my camera for a walk any day and slow down enough to see what is right there in front of me to enjoy. I knew that as I left that building yesterday that "it was a good sermon of sight and sound". I knew also that I had found my subject for Day 29 of Beyond Layers.
As you travel through this season of re-newal and hope take a few minutes each day and step outside to find the beauty for yourself. You won't have to go very far, I think it's right outside your door.
In The Bulb There is a Flower