The Beauty of a Rainfall

The beauty of rainfall at mid day drops
   like the gentle sounds of a pot boiling in another room;
   like a soft, caressing press
         of an ambient gray sonnet soundscape squeezed into a green painting,
         of blue sky crushed into gray and seasoned with sunlight's kiss.









The sky of a rainfall at mid day glimmers with
   a glowing moistness beneath lowering, frowning clouds;
   a shining radiance on the cusp of coming brightness;
   a gathering darkness that breaks like the cry no longer able to be contained.










The passing of a rainfall at mid day leaves behind
   the stunning blue of a well-watered, weathered sky;
   the soggy soil slowing impatient bustle and hurry;
   the shimmering puddles reflecting parting clouds riding across watery trails;

        And my heart washed from cares—if only for a moment—
            while listening to the rain which at mid day falls.

- D. Benning

Reflection Upon Being Young

 
When I was quite young, I enjoyed going through one particular drawer in my dad's desk. There were things in there that captured my attention and imagination. I held them and tried to come up with fantastic uses for things that my parents (I'm sure) thought were quite mundane.

 
Truth be told, they were all quite mundane: An old typewrite eraser, a colored straight edge, a neon orange French curve and a brass contraption to hold a roll of stamps.

 

 Perhaps part of the secret of staying young is remembering to see the fantastic in the common, the "wow" in the mundane, and the glory within the plain.  I think that our adult hearts become jaded and so used to the things around us that we become hardened to the wonder of the reality that God blesses us with.  We need to look and appreciate that beauty in the color; we need to savor the texture of a cloth; we need to smile and thank God for the people that He placed us with.  



 
Ultimately it's that.  It's the people and the relations.  Especially the relation with God.  Once we have that—once we understand deeply, that He is both the Giver and the the Gift—once that permeates our heart, percolates through our mind, and exudes from our every action, we will be thankful people, grateful people, humbly appreciative people.  We will see that indeed, every good and perfect gift falls down from heaven above from the Father of Light in whom there is no shadow of turning.  We will then be able to rejoice in the smallest of things because we know that we have the best possible: we have God who said: "I will be your God and you will be My people."

---------------  A Related Quote  ---------------

"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

— G.K. Chesterton

Take the above Chesterton quote with a grain of salt, but there is something to it for we are told that He never changes and that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, forever!

Paul's Gospel Hymn of Praise

Sometimes reading a passage from the Bible can seem familiar or even mundane.  Other times we can blip right over it and miss the deep levels of meaning within the simple lines.  Such was the case the other morning when I read 1 Timothy 3:16:

God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified by the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.

This is in verse form so it must have been an early Creed or Hymn.  Think of that for a moment.  You are participating in an ancient song that has been passed down for two millennia!

But let's unpack the meaning of this hymn then marvel at the great mystery of godliness.

"God was manifested in the flesh"  —  First, this strikes against any Gnostic who would say that matter is evil and thus God could not have *Really* come in a human body.  It also strikes against the modern liberal who says that Jesus was a nice man, a good man, but God is something that you make up in your own mind subjectively.  Now think about this a while longer; let the full importance of these brief words amaze your heart and mind.  The first 18 verses of John 1 should jump to mind: "He dwelt among us!"  Another translation says, "He tabernacled [pitched a tent] among us!"  God with us!  Emmanuel!  It also points to Matthew 1 as well as Luke 2.  Jesus Christ, Son of God, became Son of Man.  He who had always existed suddenly became!  Think also about such humiliation:  The Infinite God condensed and confined within a span of 33 years and the measure of a mortal body.  For us and for our salvation!

"Justified by the Spirit"  —  Justified could be translated "Vindicated."  Jesus began His life on earth by the direct action of the Spirit overshadowing Mary.  He started His earthly ministry with the Spirit descending upon Him at baptism in the form of a dove.  At the end of His ministry Jesus was accused and condemned as a sinner but the Spirit of God vindicated Him by raising Him from the dead.

"Seen by angels"  —  Consider Him who dwelt in Heaven on whose face the angel dare not gaze.  Now a little lower than the angels.  Angels which sang at creation (Job 38:7) and will shout and sing at the end of this age (Rev 5: 8 - 11), oversaw and directly interacted with earth at His birth, during His temptation, in the midst of His agony in the Garden, at His resurrection and then at His ascension into Heaven.  And even now, we are told that God is showing off His spectacular creation, the Church, to celestial beings.  Eph 3:10.

"Preached among the Gentiles"  —  Consider how this is the direct fulfillment of Gen 12:2 - 3, "...all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."   Consider how it is a blessing that you who were once far off are now brought into His Kingdom and accepted in the Beloved!

"Believed on in the world"  —  His kingdom is advancing!  Satan and the host of darkness team up and work the world up into a lather to oppose the spread of the gospel, but God's Word goes forth and here and there folks believe.  This should encourage us to speak, for how can they believe unless someone speaks!

"Received up in glory"  —  This happened in front of His disciples eyes (Acts 1:9).  And now this Jesus is in Heaven with the glory that He had before the incarnation and now crown with extra honor for completing the Father's task  (Phil 2:9 - 11).

There Is Something About the Light

'Bayou Window'....on the Bonfouca by Sherry Lynn
https://www.facebook.com/Louisianadreamsphotography/

There is something about the light at day break:
   the sun-colored gold,
   the sharp defined shadows,
   the warmth of the returning sun,
      heralding promise of a new day.

The light at mid day shines harsh and steeply angled:
   the glare induced squint,
   the heat and labors of the day,
   the heaviness of the afternoon laden
       with cares, humidity and vexation.

But there is something about the light at evening:
   the golden color returns,
   the breath of a cool breeze whispers relief,
   the satisfaction of the day well-done,
       and the promise of rest to come.

- D. Benning

The Last Rose of Summer

The last rose of summer,
  fragrant blossom and frail dainty,
Fall is upon us and your beauty will soon expire,
  falling finally from faded, flaccid form.
Yet bold you adventure to come forth now,
  to grow and glow and burst with beauty bright
  to cheerf'lly decorate the dying landscape with your joy,
  while all about you collects the dusty leaves of yesterday.
Yet you will fade and fall:
  Autumn's winds and Winter's rains
  will wash all memories of you from this place;
  and in stark pose, the denuded rose
     will stand in deathly cold and spiny salute to its fallen flowers.
    
- D. Benning