Kingdom Reflections
Canon 5D Mark ll, 24-70 2.8L, 4.0 aperture, 1/1000 shutter, 100 ISO
Seemingly out of nowhere, it comes. The drenching, thunderous rain of a summer storm. Limbs humbly bend and flowers bow their heads under the weight of the pelting drops. The parched earth drinks quickly but not fast enough, and the water puddles into soft shapes on the driveway.
Moments later, it is over. The clouds recede and the sky turns azure blue, relieved of its burden. Now is my favorite time to peek into another world. It is a brief time, when water and light mix just right, and I get a glimpse of eternity. Puddled up, there in the gravel, I can see traces of Heaven. A Kingdom that is both near and far away. Can you see it too? Held there, in the mundane pebbles of earth, a glimpse of glory, a reflection of a life we remember somehow but do not yet fully know. It’s like Lucy finding the wardrobe, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, remembering that she is part of another world, but just can’t place it somehow. I can feel the pull, as I gaze into the puddle. I belong somewhere else.
Traces of Eternity
The traces are everywhere, after a storm. It is almost as if the clashing of atoms has forced open a window. A window into another life. Drops cling to all that will have them, mixing with the brilliant sunlight, scattering prisms of color over the earth. My heart flutters. There! And there again! Each drop is like a tiny mirror, reflecting the upside down Kingdom, where a great King comes to serve, and being the greatest means loving the least.
I capture what I can, as the window softly closes, the rain soaking into the earth. My heart full, I am grateful. I know it is just a preview of what is to come. Until then, I will linger when I can where water and light meet, hoping to get another glimpse of eternity.
I Corinthians 2:9 ~ “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”–
3 Comments
I love your thought of a momentary open window. For a moment the earth invites us in to its open secret . . . and in that moment we are both captured by the raw beauty of creation and convinced that it is trying to tell something bigger.
Joy is the growing ember in our chest as we realize the sum of what earth is trying to tell us.
I’m only in the batter’s circle . . . the real game is on its way.
Chris, you need to write your own blog!
Oooh la la, that first photo with the clouds reflected in the puddle is stunning! 🙂