Think on these things … Philippians 4:8

One day we looked out the window…

And there it was… an unexpected gift of color and beauty…

When we moved into the house in the summer, we saw the big maple and wondered…

What color would its leaves turn in the fall?

Fall arrived.

Neighbors’ trees turned from green to yellow and gold and red.

Ours’ stayed a stubborn green…

Then up at the very top of the tree…

A few leaves changed colors.

Were they a dead brown?

Or the start of a fiery autumn blaze of orange?

We couldn’t tell at first.

Then slowly the fall colors crept down the tree…

One day we opened our curtains…

And there it was…

A surprise burst of color…

Filling the window…

Turning the walls of the room a golden hue…

Overwhelming our senses…

Crowding out every other thought…

Who could plan the day’s schedule?

Or worry about deadlines?

Who could think about anything but the beauty of God’s world?

How different would our world be if we were on a constant hunt for beauty?

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.   Ralph Waldo Emerson

What if we let God’s beauty, majesty, power and love crowd out every other thought?

I don’t know the answers to those questions.

But I do know that a few weeks after I took that picture of the tree’s fiery orange glow …

My senses were filled with another reality …

The smell of wet, moldy leaves as I raked them into piles and stuffed them into 15 yard waste bags.

Today the bags sit on our curb, waiting to be hauled away.

I could look at those bags and think of the work they represent…

But instead

I try to fill my mind with thoughts of the lush green of summer…

With images of the fiery red of autumn…

And with love and gratitude…

For the God who creates all things beautiful…

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8