A vase of flowers

Beautiful spaces don't guarantee beautiful thoughts and actions. Terrible people love beautiful things. Good people are forced to live in squalor.

And yet, and yet... Every time I see the old wheelbarrow overflowing with lime-green lettuces and darkly foliaged marigolds; every time I glimpse almond blossom; every time persimmons are bright against the sky, I am elated. God created the world, and it was good. It still is good. God never went away, never stopped creating, but continues to work among us even now.

Small reminders, glimpses of goodness, recall me to this. They lift my heart, fill my spirit with joy.

When I am downcast and the day feels too hard, when my life feels meagre and thin, I treasure these signs. They catch my eye and give me pause; they invite me to change direction, convert. A vase of flowers can tip the balance. The nighttime sky restores my soul.