On the Underside of Heaven

On my long slow trek to the neighborhood playground last week with our grandchildren, strong leafy trees created a checkerboard of shadows on the sidewalk.  As two-year-old Howie pushed along on his red garage-sale scooter, moving from sunlight  into the shade, he would announce in a loud voice, “DARK,” wondering what happened to the intense afternoon sun. 

“Howie,” I explained, “it is just the shade of the tree that makes it appear darker.”  His three-year-old big sister Maggie pulled up beside us on her training-wheeled bicycle.  “And it is so beautiful,” she declared.  I looked up.  We were literally covered by a quilt of leaves in every tone of green.  The pavement was grey, cracked, and broken.   Above us appeared the artistry of God on the underside of heaven.

I almost missed it.

I thought about that incident this hot summer afternoon as I ran alongside a swiftly moving creek through a fellowship of towering trees.  God did not just create the world, but embedded in us the ability to grasp what beauty looks like.  I do not have to teach “this is beautiful,” like I instruct our grandchildren “this is red,” or “this is the number 3.”   A small child inherently possesses the capacity to be moved by it.   Even those who do not believe in God, stand in awe of what He has done, that which is a mere fingerprint of who He is.

I have a friend who worked years ago in the photography department of a renowned architectural firm.  She once related to me an incident when she was reviewing the work of one of their photographers.  He had taken dramatic pictures of many of their award-winning structures, awesome in scale and stature.  But at the end of his portfolio, she discovered images he had taken of a magnificent tree.  The man-made buildings, she said, paled in the light of this creation of God. There was no comparison.   And the tree, a single tree, is what took her breath away. 

All of creation exalts His name.  And as the old hymn says, "His power throughout the universe displayed."

Let them praise the name of the LORD,

For His name alone is exalted;

His glory is above earth and heaven.

                              Psalm 148.13