Photography and digital magic: H.J. McEnroe
It’s been said of me before that I am a hopeless romantic…not really something of which I’m proud.
You might say I’m more akin to a hopeful romantic. Nonetheless, there are those precious few moments in life that capture our attention and imagination in the most esoteric of ways. Art can do this, elevating our spirits to a higher plain of consciousness. Music is another powerful motivator of our emotions, and rightly called the “universal language.”
For me, however, the abiding force that lifts my spirits and compels me to write are often nature, itself. We exist among a delicate ecosystem, mostly unaware of all the life forms that blossom before us and around us. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the reasons Jesus was recorded by the Apostle Thomas as saying, “The kingdom of God is within us and all around us.”
Recently, my editor happened upon a Petunia blossom, dislodged from its stalk. As an artist herself, she was compelled to lift it off the ground and briefly hold it in her hand. She said, “Observing this blossom, I was struck by the fleeting nature of all life, and how true beauty may only be embraced for an instant.” I couldn’t have said it better. In that moment, she paid homage to an observation by Saint Augustine. Lore has it that he once lifted a blossom from a bush and observed:
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”
I don’t profess to know how God loves us, nor why he should even care. For me, it is enough that we are His children, and He breathes life into us. If He cares that much, He must be a very vulnerable God; that is a God I can love.
Likewise, human drama belies the delicate silhouette of our existence on this infinitesimally tiny, delicate planet. When I find my wife watching a sad moment of a love story – tears streaming down her face – I can say that she, too, is a hopeful romantic…even after forty years of marriage. For that – and everything and everyone that matters in my insignificant life – I thank God.
May you embrace this mystery we call, “life.”
For me, however, the abiding force that lifts my spirits and compels me to write are often nature, itself. We exist among a delicate ecosystem, mostly unaware of all the life forms that blossom before us and around us. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the reasons Jesus was recorded by the Apostle Thomas as saying, “The kingdom of God is within us and all around us.”
Recently, my editor happened upon a Petunia blossom, dislodged from its stalk. As an artist herself, she was compelled to lift it off the ground and briefly hold it in her hand. She said, “Observing this blossom, I was struck by the fleeting nature of all life, and how true beauty may only be embraced for an instant.” I couldn’t have said it better. In that moment, she paid homage to an observation by Saint Augustine. Lore has it that he once lifted a blossom from a bush and observed:
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”
I don’t profess to know how God loves us, nor why he should even care. For me, it is enough that we are His children, and He breathes life into us. If He cares that much, He must be a very vulnerable God; that is a God I can love.
Likewise, human drama belies the delicate silhouette of our existence on this infinitesimally tiny, delicate planet. When I find my wife watching a sad moment of a love story – tears streaming down her face – I can say that she, too, is a hopeful romantic…even after forty years of marriage. For that – and everything and everyone that matters in my insignificant life – I thank God.
May you embrace this mystery we call, “life.”