Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!” Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.” – Luke 19:39-40

Rebekah and I have been in North Carolina almost five years now and I’m still periodically overwhelmed by the beauty that is all around me.

March through May I wrote extensively about Wake Forest’s colorful spring (it was long and cool this year), and now summertime is coming along with its own spectacular contribution to scenic delight.

Red, White, and Blue:

What struck me yesterday – getting in eighteen holes of golf with my friend George – was the vivid splash of red, white, and blue in synch with July 4th. It was as if nature was waving its own flag!

The golf was (as usual) up and down, good and bad, sometimes exciting and often downright ugly, both encouraging and frustrating at the same time. But the consistent message of the rolling piedmont around us was loud and clear: Be thankful, be inspired by creation, be so grateful that we can enjoy such fun in the context of love, and security, and peace.

When I caught a glimpse of the red, white, and blue of the crepe myrtle trees against the blue sky and pure white clouds, I couldn’t help but think about freedom, I thought about the wondrous privilege it is to live here, and I thought about Jesus and the remark he made to the keepers-of-the-law one day when they criticized people for singing his praise:

Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!” Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.”

For me, the way the trees have leafed out with such rich foliage, and the way the flowers have held absolutely nothing back, this is a case of creation tapping me on the shoulder and saying, “Why so quiet, Derek? How about a word or two offering thanks and praise to the Creator who put all this together and now sustains it through the impulse of light and love? Seriously… if you don’t say something then we’re going to start shouting.”

But of course, and see for yourselves, they already are.

– DEREK