Let the fields and everything in them be glad.
Let all the trees in the forest sing for joy. – Psalm 96:12

I could write an entire post on this one photograph (above), looking from under our neighbor Ginger’s dogwood down the sidewalk in front of our home. Greens, reds, purples, golds, yellows. Leaves and temperatures both falling.

The trees have my attention now. Even the ones that are a mess – so many historic specimens disfigured by chainsaw-happy utility crews – somehow pull it together in the fall. So my eyes are drawn to the dazzling displays and I find myself looking up.

Not just looking up but looking through. I took this photograph of our church through the branches of the maple on our side of Saint Patrick Street.

Fall illustrates the imaginative and whimsical nature of so much of The Creator’s work. Not just returning the leaves and their nutrients to the soil in order to continue the work of creation, but why not mark the process with spectacular beauty and outrageous color?

Art as worship

Our own artistic urges represent the expression of God’s image in us. So I could not help but reference some of our daughter Naomi’s work on my study wall. When we are creative we honor God.

I honestly believe that the arts are an important aspect of how we worship – as are the efforts we make to take care of this creation (gardening, farming, landscape design).

There is a spark, a seed, an element of God’s imaginative, loving, creative genius in each one of us and I feel that God delights in our discovery and enjoyment of the gift.

There is a spark, a seed, an element of God’s imaginative, loving, creative genius in each one of us and I feel that God delights in our discovery and enjoyment of the gift.

The final two “photos of the week” feature first – in the gallery, below – our friend Resi with the two Goldens, Max and Emmy, from Sunday evening (Community and friends we love) and then the memory that popped up from 2023.

The “On this day” memory (right) looks back two years to the magical day Rebekah and I spent zip-lining through the rainforests of Costa Rica (“Pura Vida“) before, the next day, October 31 2023, sailing into Falmouth Jamaica and visiting a historic mountaintop plantation house that I hope and pray still stands today.

And so, while we celebrate our blessings and the beauty of the fall, our hearts are also heavy for the people of Jamaica.

In all things, love and peace – DEREK