The New England roadsides are lush with Daylilies and Black-eyed Susans. Stonewalls that line fields and yards are accented with these yellow and orange exhibitionists showing off their splendor to all who pass by. One would have to be visually or mentally challenged not to appreciate their glory. If they could sing they would surely change the words to “You Are So Beautiful” to “I Am So Beautiful” and serenade us on our way. Shamelessly they beg us to take their picture so we can enjoy them six months from now when the days are short and the stonewalls are smothered with snow.
If I had been Moses and quested to write an account of creation I would write something like this. “The Lord God planted a garden in the east and called it New England; and there He put the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight.”
Living the abundant life is living with our minds wide open to ingest each day’s gifts. Far too soon the greens of the oaks and maples will darken indicating the summer is waning and once again God will take out His palette and paint the hills and lanes with maple reds and birch yellows. Those are good days. But I am not yet hungry for them. Today the table is set with the feast of summer. It is more than enough to satisfy anyone’s taste. Today is the day to sing Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 12, 2011
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