EARLY MORNING STILL LIFE

Still Life, Jamestown, NC

 A laser beam of early morning light made it’s way through the trees and the edge of a window blind as I read today’s newspaper.  It caught my attention as it was encapsulated and reflected in a thin crystal disc for only a relatively few seconds.  Fortunately, I was holding a device that was also able to encapsulate and reflect its “good morning” presence before it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

REVEALING SECRETS HAIKU

Whirling Sunbeams, Jamestown, NC
Mottled Sunbeams, Jamestown, NC

Bright whirling sunbeams,
streak to the labyrinth core,
revealing secrets.

The colors within,
encapsulated in glass,
dye secret gardens.

Camellia blooms,
absorb colors and unfurl,
revealing secrets.

Warm mottled sunbeams,
belie tomorrow’s secret,
of spring snow showers.

BEACH HAIKU

Beach Escape, Wrightsville Beach, NC

A fusion of sand,

sky, spirit, magical light,

and relentless waves,

combine to create a beach.

Sand between your toes,

summer breezes through your hair,

cooling salt water,

and sunbeams warming your skin.

Escape to the beach,

listen to a reggae beat,

the sounds in the womb,

the heartbeat of breaking waves.

Island timekeeping,

is measured by watching tides,

as they come and go,

another simple pleasure.

SPRING’S PROMISE HAIKU

Camellia Bud, Jamestown, NC

The promise of spring,
stirs the hearts of all ages.
Optimism reigns,
as the circle of life spins.

Seasons come and go,
and each one has a lesson.
Spring teaches us all,
that patience is rewarding.

The warmth of sunbeams,
finally stirs the bush's sap.
The young buds respond,
and unfurl ruffled collars.

KNOCKING HOLES IN THE DARKNESS

Sunrise, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Young Robert Lewis Stevenson was watching a lamp lighter at the turn of the century lighting the gas lamps in his neighborhood. When young Robert’s father asked what he was finding so fascinating that evening, he innocently replied, “Daddy, I’m watching a man knock holes in the darkness”! And there’s a lot of darkness in this world.

The Lord asks Satan where he has been when angels gather in the first chapter of Job. He replies that he has been roaming the earth and then is given permission to tempt Job. Satan shows his powers over this world then as well as when he later tempts Jesus, the Light of the World, in the wilderness before his ministry begins. The Prince of Darkness provides many opportunities for us human beings to exercise the dark side of our free will or choose to resist it. It’s interesting to consider that darkness represents the absence of light. Other worldly examples include cold as the absence of heat, death as the absence of life, and evil as the absence of God’s love in men’s hearts. These concepts are most apparent when we reflect on what is missing.

The Bible is infused with passages referring to God and His Son as light. Isaiah promises that the Lord shall be our everlasting light. The Psalmist tells us that His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We shall see light in His light. There are even more references to Jesus in the New Testament as the light of life, the light of the world, the light of men and the true light. We humans are considered the children of light and the light of our bodies is the eye. When Jesus was transfigured his face shined like the sun and his raiment was white as the light. Jesus promises that He has come as a light into the world and whoever believes in him will not abide in darkness. And Revelation reveals that the new earth and heaven will have no night and therefore no need of a candle or the sun and moon to shine in it for the glory of God will lighten it and the Lamb will be the light thereof.

When we do what is right in loving others and humbly loving our God, we are also growing our character and spirit during our time here on earth and in preparation for our eternal destiny. We do this by volunteering our time, sharing our God-given talents and giving back what we cannot keep so that others might have what we cannot lose. We do this by being a light upon a hill sending sunbeams of grace to knock holes in the darkness. And we do this by following Jesus’ teaching to spread that Light of Life out into the world so that we and others will not walk in darkness, but walk along a straight path in the eternal Light of our Heavenly Father. And as the Son reflects His Heavenly Father’s Light and the moon reflects the sun’s light, the Light of giving has a way of circling back to bless the lives of those who honor their God by their commitment and their actions.

GRIZABELLA SNOWFLOWER

Summer Sunflower, Jamestown, NC
Winter Snowflower, Jamestown, NC

Given the choice between a Broadway musical and a PGA tour event, I’ll take the golf tickets to the corporate tent. But living with the fairer sex for forty years did expose me to some of the finer things in life which I actually enjoyed including good musical entertainment with heart touching story lines and lyrics like Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miz, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Annie, and yes, Cats. There were poignant moments in all of these experiences that made you stop the music and reflect on your life. It also didn’t hurt that my daughter performed in many of these musicals as a teenager and was a joy to watch.

I had one of those moments in the middle of a dark sunflower field this morning. The first major winter storm of the season roared through the Carolinas last night bringing heavy rain turning to freezing rain, sleet, wet snow and power outages. Rare claps of thundersnow issued fatalistic warnings which the natives claim will foretell another winter storm in ten days. I had previously photographed the sunflower field in the prime of summer’s golden glory and happened upon one particular sunflower on the far edge of the field that was entwined in morning glory vines that highlighted this one creation for its unique beauty.

As I later drove past the field, it had occurred to me that the blackened plants might be interesting to photograph against a white blanket of fresh snow. Once I had shoveled the snow accumulation off my driveway, I gathered up my camera gear and drove off to fulfill the promise of another photo op. Fortunately, the rising morning sunbeams were beginning to warm the road surfaces, but nature’s organic surfaces still held the wet snow that had clung to all surfaces overnight, including the sunflower field. As I began looking through the camera lens for images that might prove interesting, I slowly made my way through the frozen field. And then while scanning the bowed heads for something out of the ordinary, the very same sunflower that had caught my eye this summer came into my view finder. The image with now barren vines immediately reminded me of one of the principal Jellicles in the musical Cats--Grizabella.

Grizabella had once enjoyed a life of carefree youthful exuberance amid the tribe of Jellicle cats, but they had shunned her in her waning years. Her decrepit and faded appearance at the Jellicle Ball in the junk yard initially did nothing to raise her stock as she vied to be the one chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn to a new Jellicle Life. But the haunting lyrics of the song she sang about her memory of better days and hope for a new restored life won them over to her side. The faded sunflower surely was alone in the moonlight last night as withered leaves collected at her feet and the wind began to moan when the winter storm rapidly descended on the Jellicle field. When the dawn came, the street lights died and the night became just another memory. A new day heralding new life had begun as the morning glory blooms had been transformed and bright sunshine revealed a glimmering pure white robe cloaked around the renewed snowflower as her memory of days in the sun lives on.

FIELD OF FULFILLED DREAMS

Winter Sunflowers, Greensboro, NC

Earlier this year, in the midst of summer, I happened upon one of those “lucky moments” of catching a mature field of bright yellow sunflowers in full bloom at sunset. All of their shining faces were upright and eagerly absorbed the life-giving rays of Light. It was truly a “field of dreams”, bright with the expectation of full life and warm sunshine. Now, we have entered the fallow season of winter and the blooms are gone. The green leaves have turned brown and the seed pods are acquiescing to the cycle of life. All of nature has withdrawn and the distant stand of trees is strangely quiet as cool sunbeams peer over the western horizon.

At first glance, the sunflowers look defeated and decimated—my first draft of this blog was entitled “Field of Broken Dreams”. Their heads are lowered and lifeless. The vibrancy of the colorful field of dreams has passed and yielded to a more solemn and darkened landscape. But if you take the time to ponder the scene and look closely, these sunny spirits have actually fulfilled the promise and purpose of their lives and are now in quiet repose. Although it appears that the dream has been shattered and broken, perhaps they are simply bowed in reverence and praise for the full lives that I was fortunate to witness. The Light that permeated every facet of the sunny field is now encapsulated in the promise of every seed head that has matured and patiently awaits the renewing Light of Life that will arrive on southerly winds with the first warming rays of the coming spring.

LIFE AFTER LIFE

Divine Light, Jamestown, NC

I recently came across a conversation between an avowed atheist and a seemingly agnostic. The agnostic had commented that “I wish I believed in God and there is an afterlife”. The atheist responded that “That’s always been repulsive to me. It takes all the truth and joy and humanity and love out of our lives. If there’s an afterlife, then the life we have here is not precious. I don’t wish that’s the way the world worked”.

The agnostic went on to comment that “The hard part about not believing in God is how many other things I can’t believe in”. Frankly, I don’t have a problem reconciling the issue at all. I believe the unique life we have been given here on earth is priceless beyond measure. I believe God created human beings in His image and when divine spirit meets human body, a soul is born. Our informed spiritual soul transcends this mortal life once we have experienced all there is to offer in this earthly existence. We all have trials and storms to weather in this life. Some folks have much more severe trials than most could ever imagine, and I have to believe that they may have never experienced truth, joy, love and humanity in their tortured lives. But they still qualify for a restored spiritual life. Of course, many who experience a relatively easy life with all of the possible earthly pleasures may quite possibly spend their spiritual life in eternal darkness apart from God’s presence. That’s why it’s important for us to spend at least as much time working on our spiritual life as our mortal life, since the relatively short time span of this life pales in comparison to an eternal timeless spiritual life.

Do any of us know for certain that there is life after death and God’s Son defeated death on the cross? I know that all His disciples were locked in an upper room fearing for their lives as their master teacher was dying on that cross. And then it is recorded that all but John met horrendous ends while proclaiming his divine nature and victory. They all had a very personal experience with a resurrected being. It is the one great hope of mortal humans and it is the basis of the sixth sense we all occasionally experience when we are privileged to glimpse into the spiritual realm. If the atheist is right, none of us will ever know. But if believers are right, he will have lost everything. That’s what’s repulsive to me.