christine anne photography: Like a Leaf

Friday, February 18, 2011

Like a Leaf

I spent some time a few afternoons ago exploring the yard around my home. Curiosity--and slightly warmer weather--drove me outdoors with my camera, Ellie, and her lovely macro lens to see what we could find. Oh, and find is just what we did--all sorts of amazing bits of God's thawing world. :)

Snow melts from hidden autumn

I noticed that autumn's leaves, buried under winter's snow, revealed themselves through the melting ice. And in each leaf--though long dead and browned--I found a strange beauty, and a lesson from the Lord.

A single leaf, resting on crystals of ice; fallen, trampled, buried, revealed.

Leaf from coral bells, retaining its marmalade colors

Even though these leaves are beautiful, a reflection of God's natural world, they no longer live, cut off from the plant or tree that sustained them through warmer months.

A lesson from the Lord came as I searched my beloved concordance: leaves, leaf, leafy. And I "happened upon" the following verses:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

There is no one who calls on Your name,

Who arouses himself to take hold of You;

For You have hidden Your face from us

And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

But now, O LORD, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

Isaiah 64:7-9 nasb

I do not endeavor to "preach" or even to "teach" here, but to simply share His Word. I leave you with this final image of another leaf, curled and withered on the snow, and a reminder that I was withered, taken away by my iniquities, but now--oh this beautiful thought! The LORD is my Father. I am the work of His hand.