blog first published on June 2, 2016

As I was walking along a dirt road with my camera, I noticed a mud puddle. This puddle was about the width of a tire and off to one side of the road. At first, it wasn't all that remarkable. It had rained the night prior and the depression in the road, made by successive passes of automobiles, served as a rain basin until the heat of the day would dry it all up. On second glance, however, I noticed something that I would have missed had I been barreling down the road, splashing puddles and deepening the dirt depressions through the friction of my tires. In the muddy waters, there was a reflection!

I was startled...

Could the brownish and dirty water really image the blue sky and clouds above? Sure enough. Like a finely crafted and gilded mirror, I was seeing the beauty of the heavens through a mud puddle! Not only did I see a glimpse of blued sky and white clouds, but also saw the outline of leaves and branches.

Odd. Unexpected. Graceful. Merciful. It was as though the earth was bearing witness to its Creator who waters the ground and allows for the forrest to grow a canopy over the paths of our lives.

I wonder. Might the dirty and muddy portions of creation, and our lives, be a portal to reflect the infinite beauty and wonder of God? When we feel literally 'like dirt' might there still be the possibility of our lives serving as a vessel to reflect the Divine visage? And what if this isn't just by chance? What if the murkiness of a puddle is the chosen way for us to catch a glimpse of God's glory, for us to see in a mirror dimly? What if in the moments when we are evaporating, there is a temporary opportunity unlike any other for viewing God's presence? What an unlikely icon!

And yet....