November 15, 2005

Thanksgiving is an Action Word

To see two photos of the posies, please visit the following website:
http://homepage.mac.com/rduerksen/PhotoAlbum35.html

It's just a nameless plant, a weed that is crawling up our lawn from the swamp. It has made itself comfortable in the Alligator Grass, and is considering how to relate to the Maple tree. Each tendril is capped by a posie, a tiny white-and-purple bloom that waves happily just below the blades of my lawn mower. I'm sure it is going to need a personalized application of a special non-fertilizer, something strong enough to send it back to the swamp where it can bloom in bliss. Maybe next week.

In the meantime, it's blooming in our lawn. Beautifully! Adding minute splashes of color in a sea of well-cropped green. Drawing our attention down from lofty roses and orchids, to specks that are as beautiful as their gigantic floral cousins.

To capture its beauty, I had to place the camera on a ground-level tripod, and focus like a robin looking for worms. Most of the photos are terrible, showing out-of-focus grass stems or ants that look like dinosaurs.

But one photo was right on the button. A smiling little bud, leaning over to share a good joke with its fully-open neighbor. If flowers could think and talk and laugh, they were probably laughing at my focusing antics on the dewy grass.

I sat beside them for nearly half an hour, thinking about life and marveling at the Creator's eagerness to even make infinitesimal weeds exquisitely beautiful! When God says, "I love you," He speaks in perfect English, Kashubian, Urdu, Spanish, and 6,908 other known languages. He also speaks just as clearly through nature. Redwoods, orchids, dolphins, and backyard posies eloquently describe His love. Sunrises, sunsets, clouds, children, grandparents, car-pool friends...there is no end to the languages of His love.

There, towering above the posies, I said "Thank You." In the midst of His gifts, I am compelled to pray, praise, and party! "Thanksgiving," after all, is an action word!

Psalm 105: 1-4
Give thanks to the LORD.
Call on his name.
Make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength.
Seek his face always.

Dick Duerksen
Assistant Vice President
Mission development
Florida Hospital