Beauty and Foolishness

I am so thankful for the defiance of beauty. I saw these yellow blossoms this morning, just thriving in the cracks of a stone wall. I was busy making rapid analogies about being surprised by a small fragment of beauty, and how beauty can be solitary and alone and brave...and then I rounded the corner of the little road.


And there was a set of steps, all in stone, and positively overflowing with blossoms. I laughed to myself for my dramatic take on such a small part of the overall picture. There was clearly more to behold that I had missed. OK, time for a revision to the "solitary moment of defiant beauty" theme -- gone was the notion of one plant struggling into the light. I looked heavenward and gave God a small wink for teaching me such a lesson. Clearly the lesson was about a small community joined in an act of love.

Then I turned another corner. Apparently God was not done with laughing at my foolishness. Did I for an instant think that the beauty of the creation could be contained by my ability to understand it?

I ached from the sheer joy of what I saw.