Texture
Texture
The old log, rough and gnarled and exposed to summer showers, had been carpeted by moss, velvet green. The sunlight highlighted each nook and cranny, and I marveled at the color and texture.
In her beautiful and inspiring essay “Three Days to See,” Helen Keller wrote:
...[L]ethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
Last week I went to walk in the yard to take photographs, an excellent practice for cultivating “concentration and appreciation” of the natural world. I was struck by the variety of textures I found and decided to make that my subject. Everywhere I looked I found celebration of God’s orderliness, creativity, and love for beauty.
Beautiful, mathematical designs are evident even in nature’s tinier specimens; each smooth scale is precisely arranged.
A colony of brilliantly colored fungi, slick and hard, juts out from the rough wood.
A soft cotton bed, gently cradling a baby moth, is discovered during a tramp through the silky ferns.
The roughness and solidity of rock is a contrast...
.. to the tender leaves with their delicate covering of fuzz.
I suppose water vapor can’t be said to have texture, but don’t these clouds look wonderfully soft and feathery?
“The works of the LORD [are] great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” Psalm 111:2.
Have you been taking pleasure in the natural creation of your God? How do you train yourself to be more observant? What have you noticed about nature today? What have you learned about its Creator?
Photographs: Various. © Handmaidens of the Shepherd, December 2008.
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ELIZABETH JOY said...
I have been marveling in light and the textures of clouds this week. Both morning and evening there has been glorious fire lighting up puffs of clouds. One morning the light came in the window and shone though a purple vase, causing me to marvel at the color. Frosty lace edges petals and leaves that linger in the garden. Yes, glimpses of the glorious face of the Creator can be still found in the world, if we look for it.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008 10:34 PM
HILDEGARD said...
Early this week I also marveled at the light, and especially its interplay with the fog I was driving through. (Stop by my blog for a post about it.) Today, I am enjoying the texture of the leafless tree branches outlined against the sky, perfectly and simultaneously fanciful and balance. I would like to be like them in that way.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 11:31 AM
HANDMAIDEN said...
Thank you for sharing these beautiful thoughts, ladies. How sweet it is to hear the “still small voice” of God!
Thursday, December 11, 2008 09:44 AM
Tuesday, December 9, 2008