See The Goodness of the Lord -- Day Three

This morning's sunrise stopped me in my tracks, literally. I was sleepily pointing the Toyota down the long lane to the road, letting the tires ride in the tracks, when I looked to the east and beheld a glorious sunrise -- orange, pink, blue, grey, pale yellow. Shadows and light skipping through the sky. The clouds underlit by the sun glowing pink ... no orange ... no tangerine ... no ...

I wish I had my camera with me I thought. Doh! I always have my camera with me -- it's tucked in my new laptop/camera backpack. Uh, the reason I got the backpack!

So I stopped the car, unzipped the bag, pulled out the Nikon and started firing away. But the sky was already different from what it had been when I first noticed it. The prairie grasses and flower stalks seemed a bit less translucent. The brilliancy was fading. It was still beautiful, but muted somewhat as the sun tried to peek through the deepening cloud layer.

As I climbed back into the car, hem of my suit pants damp with dew, I thought about how my lack of awareness and then resultant hesitation had cost me some really good pictures. Yes, I still had enjoyed the pleasure of seeing those magnificent moments, but they were only stored in my memory banks -- which makes them hard to share with the people I love. I did have about ten other shots -- but they were not nearly as powerful as the ones I could have gotten would have been.

Alas, "the would have beens".

I thought then about how many times I'd missed a chance to capture a God-sighting in my soul because I was driving along through life, riding in the tracks. What other things have I missed because I failed to grab the opportunity. Not the opportunity for money or things -- but for beauty and God and the life of the spirit?

The sunrise this morning reminded me of that ... And I have a picture or five to help.

-- Brent