God's Fingerprints

The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water.
A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth.
Life is but an endless series of little details,
actions, speeches, and thoughts.
And the consequences -
whether good or bad of even the least of them -
are far-reaching.

Sivanda

A sunrise is a little like a fingerprint. Just like the whorls and ridges of the human fingerprint leave behind different impressions, each sunrise leaves an individual stamp all its own.

Just over a week ago, I watched the sun rise and color the beach of Tybee Island, Georgia. I'm used to "amber waves of grain" on a farm in south central Kansas. The waves of the Atlantic Ocean provided a different kind of music. Instead of the gentle rustle of ripe grain in the wind, the new day roared in with a symphony of the ocean swells.

The fingerprint of the sunrise changed as the waves ebbed and flowed. Even though the day was the same, the view evolved with a simple change of direction. Without the light's direct impact, the day took on a rose-colored-glasses tinge to the north.

This morning - the first full day we've been back home - I watched the sun rise. A windmill provided the focal point instead of a sea shell.

This morning, the music was the call of geese flying overhead and the rustle of the wind in the trees.

And again, the scene shifted subtly. The inky darkness was penetrated incrementally as the seconds ticked toward the sun's arrival on the horizon.

Life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts.
And the consequences -
whether good or bad of even the least of them -
are far-reaching.

How do my actions and words color another's day? Just like a change of perspective in the morning sky, my word of kindness may offer an inward glow to someone else. And, conversely, a word spoken in anger or thoughtlessness can darken another's day. An act of kindness paints a rainbow on the day. Something left undone may cloud another's horizon.

Today, let me reflect the light of Christ. In spite of my busyness and weariness and human frailties, O Lord, help me to remember that little things mean a lot: Tiny drops of water make up the ocean. Tiny grains of sand make the mountains.

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I'm linking today to Chatting at the Sky's Tuesdays Unwrapped.

and to:



I'm also linked to Farm Photo Friday.