Evening comes late, yet even the darkened earth refuses to shake off the moist heat hanging over the backyard. It is as though the Lord has spread a warm wool blanket over the earth and all His creatures. Even the oppressive heat of the day cannot remove our enlightened spirits as we pray evening prayer. Nor can the setting sun and enveloping darkness overcome the sparkles of stars descending upon our backyard. These stars descend upon my family and me in the backyard: the lightning bugs have arrived. It’s Trinitytide. “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth stand in awe of him.”
Doves continue their love songs, cooing back and forth. Slowly their whimsical tales of love fade into the early evening as the Southern pines emerge with the cascade of cicadas picking up in their rhythm and subsequently abating. Back and forth. The echoes of God’s creation surround us. “O Lord, open thou our lips. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.”
Between the ever-prevalent and evergreen pines rises the maples and oaks. The Japanese maples are finally shedding their maroon color and transforming – transfiguring – into a perfect green. Everywhere it is green. Life is everywhere. The Trinity is everywhere. “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”
We see through a mirror darkly 