Beholding

Friday in the Third Week of Lent

For you have made me glad by your acts, O Lord;
and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
Psalm 92:4

I see the picture of exquisite beauty my friend has texted me and I smile. We often send each other photos of some lovely gift that we encounter in God’s creation. I look around me to see what I might offer in return. However, while she lives in a part of the world where spring is in full bloom, I am in a conference center in a colder clime. I begin to pay attention, to look, to search out what this landscape has to offer.

What I discover is the nascent bloom. The tree bud just beginning to risk the still cold air, its new life making a statement against the glass and steel and concrete of downtown buildings.

I am captivated by the juxtaposition. The curve of the supple branch against the regimented lines of concrete brings a smile to my face as I think of the vivacity that is about to burst forth. I imagine the color and shape and fragrance of blossoms and leaves that this tree will present in the midst of this city displaying with abandon God’s abundance.

I capture a photo for my friend and delight for my heart and continue with my day once again assured of the presence of the holy in the ordinary.