Spirit's Vacation

Sometimes there is just too much reality to deal with. It is at those times that I need most to be outside. Something about being out doors helps make the reality somehow more managable and smaller, less important in the over all scheme of things. Whether it is a long walk or just enjoying a cup of coffee in the back yard, the beauty and honesty of nature somehow brings things into perspective. What is more honest than the way a branch moves in the wind, or a bird flying through the sky, and what is more beautiful than the shape of a tree or the sky reflected in the surface of a lake? How reassuring it is to know that in the spring the grass will grow, in the summer flowers will bloom, in the autumn leaves will explode into a riot of color, and in the winter colors will be muted and shapes revealed. Getting lost in thought even for a few moments is such a relief and vacation for the spirit, a reminder that God is with us, for how else could everything be so balanced, so beautiful. When I return to my personal realities, it is with a fresh sense of acceptance, optimism, and faith that somehow everything will be good in the end.