Morning Glory

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around Him.

-Ezekiel 1:28

I received an unexpected phone call bright and early in the morning. Well, not so bright, since the sun had yet to show her face, so maybe we’ll just stick with the early portion. Turned out I needed to meet my coworkers and open up the coffee shop since one of them misplaced her key.

Still pretty much sleeping, I rolled out of bed, stumbled around in the dark to find my keys, my mind a fog and still steeped in slumber. As I made my way to my car and started the drive, I kept the music off. I normally have to have music on constantly in the car, but this time I was too tired and still trying to focus on where I was going to have any noise except the sound of my motor and the gentle hum of the air conditioner.

The haze lifted from my mind just enough to bring my eyes into focus on the shifting world I had awoken to. Long, willowy clouds sprayed with pearl pink, laughing lavender and breezy blue drifted across a languid sky to the east, slowly yet purposefully striding through the morning. South, shards of lightning bolted across the slate gray, where an early morning storm gathered and gripped the city in its commanding hold.

As the slow, quiet respite of awakening undid my eyelids, I rose to meet its revelry.

When I met my coworkers in front of the coffee shop, I lifted my head through the splattering rain and set my eyes on a full color, vibrant rainbow leaping across the sky. It glowed against the rising sun to the east and enhanced by the metallic gray storm clouds striding in from the west towards us. The angle it rose into the sky and gently curved to encase the atmosphere, it had to be God dipping his paintbrush and tracing a perfect stroke against His canvas. I pointed the scene out to my coworkers, and we stood there in a quiet reverence to the beauty of the day’s beginning.

On my way back home, I had difficulty keeping my focus on the road, because every inch of me yearned to see the splendor to my left and the artistry arising to my right. Swirling cotton candy colored clouds framed a dazzling brilliance of the sun birthing itself to a new day. The honey sweet light cascaded down to the long bed of wildflowers across the street from the road that takes me to my apartment. I had to turn off the air conditioning, pull my windows down and listen to the rhythm of rain and catch the smell of sunlight slipping into the passenger seat.

Too stunned by the beauty, I pulled to the shoulder and set my car in park. I watched as tiny diamond raindrops drizzled themselves down to kiss the stretching stems that begged for their adornment. A fresh, perfumed breeze wrapped around my face, through my hair, and as the sun surged forth over the clouds, ascending to its rightful place in the sky, my heart lifted and soul stitched together the impact of this illustrious show.

This breathtaking scene, the most mesmerizing of spectacles I have seen, came when most of the world was still asleep. And I should have been, too, snoring right through the pastel shadows and dancing rain, had my God, the Artist with perfect precision, not stirred me awake.

Thank You, my Lord and my Love, for greeting me with Your glory.

 

Prayer:

You show us things when we are not looking for them, when we may not even want the interruption. But Father God, how You know exactly what we need! Thank You for the private, personal times You want to have with me, and how Your love is subtle, yet supreme. Please help me to look for You in the quiet spaces, and to reach out for the affection You offer. Amen.