When I look back on this summer, perhaps I will think of it as a summer of seeing signs of God's presence in nature. On some level, I've always seen God's presence in nature, especially when I see something particularly delightful, like the blaze of autumn leaves or a spectacular sunrise, something that makes me reach for my camera if it's near by.
But I'm talking about something even more specific, like feeling despair during a walk, turning around, and seeing a rainbow. Yesterday, during my predawn walk, I had a similar experience, although it was less a response to my mood.
I got to the tiny neighborhood lake and looked at the sky. I was struck by the swirls of lighter blue against the much darker sky; I know that I'm far enough south that I will never see the northern lights, but the effect was similar. The light blue looked almost fluorescent against the midnight blue.
As I looked up, I thought of my sketches of a descending dove, and I realized that the light blue had a similar shape to the descending dove that's the outside frame of this one:
I continued to stare at the sky, thinking of the Gospel stories of the baptism of Jesus, and those words from God expressing pleasure with Jesus, even before Jesus has begun his ministry.
You may wonder why I haven't posted a picture of the clouds. I don't walk with equipment, and I'm one of the last people in the U.S. who doesn't have a smart phone that can take great night shots.
I still can't figure out what made those clouds swirl that way and appear to be that vibrant blue. It wasn't related to the soon to rise sun. I've never seen the clouds reflect the street lights in that way before, and I've been taking lots of predawn walks.
I realize the folly of seeing messages from God where there may be none. But I also like these reminders of God's presence everywhere, if we had eyes to see.
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