Quiet this morning

The sky is cloudless

It’s a funny thing

How rarely I noticed the sky before

How many clouds adorned its surface and what kind

The exact shade of blue

It is painting that has made me notice

Already considering how the horizon is so pale a blue

It appears almost yellow

The ombre effect that gradually bleeds

From yellow to pale blue to a deeper shade

The almost purple-looking sky when viewed up high

The sky framing the green branches of the trees

I am not an expert painter

I am very much a novice

But even I can appreciate art like that

Drawn by a master artist

I can imagine God with his morning paintbrush

Painting in the colors of the sky

Creating a new work of art each day

No two masterpieces the same

I personally like the bright blue ones the best

With puffy cumulus clouds a stark contrast to the blue

But I also love the sky when it’s grey

The clouds releasing rain upon the earth

The color so washed out it is almost colorless

And the sky the other day when it looked like someone had pulled apart cotton into tiny pieces

The sky this morning is subtle

Depending not on clouds to give it shape

But on quiet variations in color

To make it beautiful

I think of the lush orange sunset

We enjoyed at dinner outside the other night

An entirely different palette of colors

Bold and fleeting

God could have created a world

Where the sky was always the same

Always the exact same shade of blue

Be he didn’t

Creation itself singing the glory of God

I don’t believe God set aside his role of Creator

after Genesis

I believe he creates still

Moment by moment

This drive to create in every cell of my body

The pleasure it gives me

Even when what I create is far from perfect

That reminds me I am the Imago Dei

Made in the image of God

My own worries and disappointments

Seem so small in the light of such a sky

I vow to look up more often

To notice that day’s masterpiece

To paint what I see more often, however imperfectly

To become a lover of the artwork of God

I often leave the house too early to see more than darkness

Often arriving home also in shadow

But nothing is stopping me from going outside

At least once a day

Just to enjoy the sky