A God Smile

Beauty Refracted

The Book of James contains a lovely bit of wisdom which says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” (1:17). I need to remind myself of that truth when life drags and the human overcast begins to settle over my horizon. A call to open my eyes wide and observe the daily gifts descending from the heavens like the manna of old—if I pay attention.

One gift that cheers my heart on a regular basis is the God Smile found in the faces of sunflowers! Such joyful faces remind me that the heavens are friendly and the earth is full of resplendent powers coming down as unmerited gifts—a streaming, spilling, surging waterfall. Like stopping in the County at the Sunflower Fields Ice cream Shoppe and enjoying a Rum and Raisin ice cream while gazing over a field of golden sunflowers. A touch of Jamaica on the Island in the Lake.

Paying attention to the gifts that come our way no matter what the shape or size. Serendipitous expressions that we matter to someone. We are never alone. We are loved by Someone. A love that penetrates the cloud banks and finds the blue sky as we raise our heavy heads upward.

Eugene Peterson catches the beauty of the giving and receiving of gifts when he writes,

Receiving a gift is like getting a rare gemstone; any way you look at it, you see beauty refracted. (Proverbs 17: 8)

Can we enjoy and be funded by the gifts we give and receive? Can we enjoy the bounty in our hearts as the seven blues of the sea refract through an Australian opal?