This beautiful specular reflection is the result of capturing light bouncing off the water at just the right angle. The truth is, this is a swampy area within walking distance, in which the water has collected to a depth of four or five feet, creating a pond, of sorts. Surrounded by trees on most sides and infiltrated by complex root systems on the opposing bank to me, it is dark, with shadows that trick the eye; murky, unless you crouch down to catch the zoom of a water strider or fixate on the orange of a salamander. It is beautiful in a wild, fallen sort of way, where the carcasses of dead trees lie half-submerged, mosquitoes dive-bomb, nettles needle, and still water smothers land.

When light bursts over and through the barricade of branches, it is a world awash in wonder, with glassy surface, glorious green, and statuesque stumps. The frogs may interrupt each other, and the jeweled leaves whisper from a quiet breeze. The fingers of a snarly root attempt to capsize my efforts to catch the angle of light, capturing for the eye what the heart knows to be true.

As long as we are here on earth, there will always be the dichotomy of beauty and ugliness, the shadows of the unknown beneath the vastness of heaven, the stillness of death mixed with the song of a bird, the exquisite joy and pain entwined in love, the continuous exchange of loss with gain, the striving always to live in the light of hope, for love is stronger than fear and light dispels darkness.

"For  God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."  - II Cor. 4:6

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God, and not to us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..." II Cor. 4:8-9

The God who created light, wields the brush of refraction to paint a grey sky in promises, mirrors beauty above a slough of ugliness, and illuminates shadows to dispel darkness. This same Creator cradles the world in hands larger than time, speaks life into beings, offers salvation to sin-swept souls, and sings them home in perfect cadence to eternity.

“So, we do not lose heart.” II Cor. 4:16

"...we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." II Cor. 4:18

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