inspiration for your journey...

PROMISE

 Sherman Newman

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  -Paul of Tarsus

Spring in the high elevations of Idaho arrives at a leisurely pace. My brother Buck took this photo last May.  We had driven through the Jerusalem Valley near Gardena and then high up Holly Mountain until the road ran out.

Except for that which lay beneath a few random shadowed snow banks, winter dormancy had lost its grip on the land.  The forest was coming to life.  The air was pure.  The predominant sounds of mountain midday were birdsong, a bee in flight, and the intermittent sighing of a breeze through ponderosa pines.

While Buck focused on a scattering of wildflowers with his camera, I reflected upon them in my mind.

These mountain wildflowers only bloom for a few weeks in late spring, yet their essence is constant.  Just because I cannot see something, doesn't mean it does not exist.  Appearances...or non-appearances...can be deceptive.  Most of the year the wildflowers are invisible beneath summer drop pine needles and then deep winter snow.  But when conditions are absolutely right, they are made manifest.  Not before, not after.   Only at the right time in the right way.

Divine Order.

In your life, is there something that you are seeing, or NOT seeing, that has shaken your faith?  Have you been patiently waiting, or even pushing for something to happen, without tangible results?

Appearances can be deceptive.

When doubt rises up, I remember the wildflowers.  Manifestation...the right time...the right way.  Divine Order. 

For me, this beautiful wildflower photograph is a colorful reminder of the natural order of both creation and existence.

When the snow is off the road in late May (or even early June - it was a snowy winter), I'm going to drive up to Holly Mountain again this year.   I cannot see them yet, but my faith knows the wildflowers will be blooming again.

*****

"In the midst of winter I found within me an invincible summer..." -Albert Camus

If you have an inspirational story, poem, photo, or thoughts that you would like to contribute and share with others on this page, please email it to Rev. Tom.

It only takes a little light to dispel much darkness...