As Pure As the Driven Snow

He has made everything beautiful in its time. -Ecclesiastes 3:11a

You can see the two willow trees in my front yard, looking through the window by the kitchen table.

Their drooping, leafless branches seem especially to be weeping at this season of the year.

This morning, however, those branches, covered with a glaze of ice, gave the appearance of a frozen fairy fountain. Sparkling in the low light of the winter's morning sun, each tree rose from the snow-covered lawn twenty feet into the air and cascaded down in a shimmering display of icy brightness.

Reflecting upon that sight and the beauty of yesterday morning's heavy blanket of snow, I was reminded that God made His creation in the perfection of loveliness.

I think of the Garden of Eden as being a picture of springtime lushness and life. And I understand that creation as we now experience it is but a pale reflection of that perfection.

But even that reflection displays God's glory to such an extent, Paul tells us, that we are left without excuse before Him.

How much more are we blessed, then to experience the Maker's world through our other God-given senses?

The sounds; of the music of those wind-driven willows, of great symphonies, of voices raised in hymns of praise, of the familiar voices of dear family and familiar friends.

The tastes; of good food lovingly prepared, of the salty sweat as we labor in the summer sun, of chocolate.

The smells; of impeding rain on the autumn breeze, of fresh cut grass or fresh turned earth, of a busy kitchen.

And the touch; of an infant's tiny hand grasping your finger, of  your child's small hand placed lovingly and trustingly in your own, of the calloused grasp of  a beloved brother in Christ gripping your hand in friendship and fellowship.

One day, we will experience all these, in the presence of our God and Savior, perfectly, beautifully, and in their fullness.

I look forward to that.