Local Color

It is a cold bleak-grey beginning of February -- and how in the world can it already be February? 

I looked outside the back door this morning.  And in that rather frigid view, suddenly I saw a spot of bright red as if on a blank screen.

 

The cardinal dressed in all of his winter finery perched on the rail for just a moment, and then, flew away again, late for another appointment.  But just a glimpse of that unexpected cheery bird made me smile.  He reminded me that there is a spectrum of visible light and a range of magnificent colors far beyond my myopic vision, about to break into sight.  And God's glory is just waiting to burst forth, beyond our comprehension.   Perhaps this day is extraordinary after all.

The glory of God landed with that bright red bird on the railing.  And it was as if He were saying, "Now watch what I do with the rest of your day."

God surprises us

   like waking in the morning

to a snow that snuck in silently

       while we sleep.

I do not have to be aware

     for God to be working.

Just to know He always is.

God brings incredible beauty even to a cold February morning that He has spoken into being.

It was that flash of color that landed in front of me, a reminder breaking through, that this long winter of our discontent will not last forever.  Or the pandemic. We can pull up our hoods and just slug out this never-ending month and wait for brighter days to come.  Or we can be the bird in someone's day, an unlikely splash of color in some unexpected moment and intricate kindness.  How can I make that happen today?  Circumstances may not change, but my heart can, from despair to His glory, and invite someone else with me. We are all changed by grace. The world is changed by it. 

Spring is coming -- as it always does.  And God will bring it.  Already done, just waiting for its ripening, which is what the Februaries are for. And as is the faithfulness of God.  We do not always see the brilliance of what is and rarely the splendor of what is yet to come.

Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth,

do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

                     Isaiah 43. 18-19