Beauty Shines Through

"The clouds collect above, drift by like marching armies on their way to war,

bringing storms and salvation.

Which, is yours to discover.

The tension builds, the winds begin their frantic dance,

increasing the pressure, the strength, the intensity until you want to escape.

But you're on an open plain, nowhere to run, no place to run to,

so the armies catch you,

open their ranks and swallow you in chaos, confusion, panic, 

despair and desperation until they spit you out the back.

They leave you standing on an open plain in a newly quiet world.

Just you, alone, breathing hard

as a light breeze dances around you."

I've thought alot about beauty this week. In our dry and desolate location, I came upon a blooming cherry tree. Its absolute incongruity in a desert landscape stopped me in my tracks. I actually gasped at the beauty of it. That this little tree could, first of all, survive but then have the flat-out audacity to bloom took my breath away. In a world of brown, of harshness, of rusted-out junkers and blowing trash, beauty in its simplicity shines through. And after a soul-shaking, what the hell just happened time when you are swallowed by the despair of ever seeing the sun again, that little glimmer through the darkness shines bright and brings with it...hope.

I've watched the news of Japan along with the rest of the world and in the absolute devastation, one thing I've noticed is the beauty shining through. The beauty of a gracious people pulling together, the beauty of a life spared, of a reunion of loved ones thought lost and I know, like this little desert cherry tree, beauty survived.

I hope that in these dark days, in the chaos and confusion, when the world chews us up and spits us out, a little glimpse of green in a brown world will stand as a reminder that we can survive the winter, that this too shall pass and if we look to the beauty instead of the tragedy, we will find hope again.

May beauty shine through, bright and unwavering, for the people of Japan. 

 Want to help? So simple: Socks for Japan