Did some porch pondering between rain showers today. I could hear the first raindrops slapping on the red clay tile on the porch. The drops made little polka dot patterns on the tile. The rain was not heavy enough to wet a whole square. The storms around us have cooled the breeze and made the morning so pleasant.

My yard has been full of cardinals and chickadees and titmice. They don’t mind the rain showers. Me either, unless the wind is blowing the rain in on the porch. Went out after supper to walk Penelope and the sky was a monocratic study in an overcast sky of blues and grays and purples. The sunset pageant was played out behind the cloud curtains, beautifully painted by Mother Nature’s watercolor brushes for the eyes of God only. I imagine she used vivid shades in jewel tones for today’s masterpiece, ruby red, sapphire blue, amethyst purple, and citrine yellow. The sun wasn’t ready to go to sleep having napped all day behind the rain clouds. Mr. Waning Gibbous Moon and his star friends, dressed in their celestial sparkling jewelry, had to be pulled by Father Sky from their cloud covers to take their places on the velvet black stage of the night sky canvas. A glorious day goes to sleep as the night wakes.

“With true beauty, there is no illusion.” ― James Philip Head

When I turned the radio on tonight I listened to Ray Stephens singing Everything is Beautiful. His words tell us to us step back and notice we live in a beautiful world. The song’s words read, “Everything is beautiful in its own way, like a starry summer night or a snow-covered winter’s day and everybody’s beautiful in their own way under God’s heaven, the world’s gonna find a way. There is none so blind as he who will not see. We must not close our minds, we must let our thoughts be free for every hour that passes by you know the world gets a little bit older. It’s time to realize that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and everything is beautiful in its own way.”

Never thought of this till today but everything God placed on earth has a specific purpose and everything is beautiful in its own way. I was trying to think of something in God’s world that isn’t beautiful to me and my mind always goes to slugs. They serve a purpose as scavengers and food for other animals. But their beauty? Maybe it’s the shimmering rainbow of a dry slime trail when it refracts light. I can see beauty in a turkey buzzard but slugs? Just so you’ll be informed. Slugs have 27,000 teeth, more than sharks!

Bible scripture tells us God made everything beautiful. Ecclesiastes 3:11 counsels us, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” What a beautiful way to view the earth in its glory, everything we experience having a harmonious connection with God and eternal life. God is always in control. We really can’t understand all of God’s work but through our faith we trust God to make things right when we struggle. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight,” Proverbs 3:5-6.

“If you take a look around this great big world, every beautiful thing that you see God created.” ― Heather Wolf