Summer Light

I stood on the lighthouse pier in the damp morning air waiting for the sunrise that would soon be breaking over Lake Superior. I had been watching the changing hues and tints of color flow from the eastern sky during the preceding 45 minutes. It seemed all of nature was waiting in anticipation for the moment when the sun would actually break over the horizon. Gulls lined up on the light post and the waves seemed to calm in the final minutes before the sunrise, all waiting for the big event.

The first ray broke over the horizon and the light pierced the sky. It was followed by the warm sunshine that started the day.

The sun is a nuclear furnace with surface temperatures reaching 11,000 deg F (6000 Deg C) , this energy is radiated to the earth in a life sustaining balance. Light and heat from the sun are the basis of (almost) all life on earth. Sunlight drives plant life via photosynthesis, and animals survive by eating plants. Almost all microscopic forms of life (bacteria, protozoa, etc.) survive by using the energy of sunlight.

I couldn't help thinking that God was using nature to show me that we are to wait for the return of His Son, Jesus Christ, with the same expectancy. The Bible unlocks the mysteries of nature with its revelations of God. As surely as the sun rose out of the eastern sky in all it glory and splendor this morning, so Christ will return in the same way.

As I packed up my camera, and headed down the road, I couldn't help wonder, if today might be the day!

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds 2Sa 23:4

Mossy Waterfall

Water flows softly through the mossy rocks of a small stream on Spirit Mountain near Duluth. I happened across this small waterfall while out scouting for Marsh Marigolds which were ready to blossom within days.

Water is an amazing substance that is essential to all know forms of life. It cover 71% of Earth's surface and perpetually moves through a cycle of evaporation, precipitation, and runoff to the sea. Referred to as the universal solvent, water is the only real pure substance found naturally on Earth in all three states of matter.

On this cool May morning, the sweet smell of the damp moss combined with the bubbling enchantment of the waterfall to make me pause and thank God for a such wonderful picture of who He is.

God created nature so that we might know and understand Him in a way the we could not otherwise do. God's Word uses the imagery of water to explain the mercy of God flowing to us in life giving refreshing love. Without Him, we are in a drought that only He can end.

Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14

The LORD will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters will not. Isa 58:11

Spirit Mountain Trilliums

Soft May rain showers sifted through the fresh greenery of Spirit Mountain saturating the forest with dampness and color.

As the fresh scent of pine drifted through the forest, I carefully walked between the trillium fields on this wonderful, cool, springtime morning, searching for the right patch of flowers to focus my camera lens onto.

At the same time, distant woodpecker knocked on a hollow tree trunk a short distance away, searching for its morning meal, oblivious to my presence.

Trillium's flourish in this weather and often are the first wildflowers noticed in the springtime, primarily because of their large white blossoms.

The flower symbolizes the early arrival of robins- wake-robin' is a common nickname. Trillium's are edible and have a long history of use by Native Americans for medicinal purposes.

I've often wondered why God would create such beauty in the middle of a forest where it was unlikely that anyone would even notice the beautiful blossoms before their short two week lifespan would come to an end. One day I realized that God made the beauty of these wildflowers to give Himself glory, whether or not, myself or anyone else for that matter, stopped to enjoy them or not.

I believe there is a reason that we have to get down on our knees to look closely at a flower: so that we can also give glory, praise, and thanks to God as we enjoy His creation.

Consider the Lilies of the field, how they toil not, neither do they spin, And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29

Wings North

A Tundra Swan flies low over Caribou Lake after a brief rest stop on its springtime migration north to the high arctic.
The Tundra Swan’s former name “whistling swan” referred to the sound made by the slow, powerful beating of the wings in flight. Tundra Swans spend the summer on the tundra of the Canadian Arctic and Alaska.
The migratory "sense" that that birds have is like a sixth sense, difficult for humans to imagine. It turns out to be a combination of many different factors including sensing the earths magnetic field, landmark identification, and genetic attributes. Even baby birds abandoned in the wild will start out on their migration at the right time of year in the right direction without having been shown the way. Right before the time when they would naturally migrate, caged birds demonstrate restive activity, called Zugunruhe ("migratory restlessness"). They display Zugunruhe even if not exposed to daylight or to seasonal temperature changes.

In a small way I feel that I know about Zugunruhe. After a few days of not getting out to take pictures, I feel a restlessness that I can't understand or control, I have got to get out and see and feel God's creation and if I happen to take a picture that's fine too. So I guess I can relate to the swan in this picture and it's migratory urge to move on, in some way it's built into all of us.

Much like the hidden sense to migrate, we also have an unexplainable need; God's Word talks about an emptiness in our heart that can only be filled by Christ. He created nature to point this out to us and the migration of birds helps us understand our need for Him.

Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.