Three months ago, I invited Glimsen readers and friends to share with me moments when they were stunned by the beauty they saw. So many people responded with memories and photos that I had to write multiple posts to capture them all.
One of my oldest and dearest friends, artist Laurie Fuller (who, as I mentioned in last week’s post, helped me make my last house a home with her artwork), sent me more than a dozen photos of moments that filled her with awe and wonder. Laurie loves beauty like I do, and she often texts photos of things she thinks I might like. She sent so many in June that I decided to feature her and her photos this week. Here are a few of them.
Of the stunning photo at the top of the blog post, Laurie describes the moment this way: “A cloudy day in Glacier Park, a bend in the road, arriving at an overlook just as clouds parted and the view of Wild Goose island struck all visitors dumb.”
Laurie sets the scene for this photo: “A breaking glacier in Alaska showcased seals finding refuge for their babies safe from the whales. New wonders!”
“Autumn in central MN abounds with color,” she says. “Catch it at the right moment and the vivid colors will invigorate you for days!”
“This is a waterfall in the area where the future King David hid from King Saul. So many Psalms came to mind. The photo seems innocuous,” she explains, “but the surrounding desert made the water an oasis.”
One chilly morning, Laurie and her husband Dennis dropped off her brother- and sister-in-law at the start of the Appalachian Trail. “We joined them for a mile or two,” she says. “The frost the night before forced needle-shaped ice from the clay soil along the path. I’d never seen such a thing! More wonders!”
“You have to know where to look to find Minnesota’s only native orchid and state flower, the lady slipper. If you spot one during its brief blooming time, you’ll think you’ve found a treasure!”
Laurie has the eye of an artist and the heart of a poet. “Awe strikes [me] unexpectedly when my senses and my spirit simultaneously encounter something transformative.”
She quotes Psalm 42:7—‘deep calls to deep’—which refers to waterfalls. “I think of Creation calling out praise to God while at the same time calling us to join in.”
Whenever I stand in front of a waterfall, or gaze up at a mountain, or study an orchid, or marvel at fall colors decorating the trees, I feel the same way. And I join in, too.
What fills you with awe? Have you experienced wonder lately? Let me know in the comments.
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