Light reveals all

the world is gray

in the weak half light

of pre-dawn

the mountain looms indistinct

and colors are muted

vague shadows of themselves

an owl hoots in the distance

invisible among the dark trees

ah, but then the sun

blood red in a smoky sky

rises

and the earth comes alive around me

uncut grains glimmers brilliant gold

in front of the deep green of grass

the mountain slowly emerges with all its

contours and colors

cliffs and rocks suddenly emerging three-dimensional

and sharp

flocks of birds swirl in the sky

and grazing deer appear

alert and curious

beauty abounds

revealed by the light

revealed too is the twisted coil of barbed wire

lying rusty in the ditch

and the rotting pile of yard debris

yellow and fetid

a flash of metal reveals a beer can

discarded by the side of the road

light reveals all

the good, the bad and the ugly

so too the light of God’s presence

brings to my soul’s awareness

the beauty of God’s love

and the joy of the fact that I am a child of the sacred

Yes, that is what I am!

but mixed among the beauty are mixed

the things I would rather not see

there they are

those rusty, rotting things

but they are not terminal

and they do not negate the beauty laid bare by God’s love

they are part of the fabric of life

only a part

to be worked through

and addressed

so that my eyes are free

to focus

on

the beauty