Beautiful Son

Nearly every morning on the thirty minute drive to school, Jesus graces me with the beauty of a sunrise.  It is one of the things that makes the early morning drive a time of repeated wonder and awe.  As someone who is not naturally a morning person, these sunrises are little rewards that God gives me for waking up early.  I am thankful for them, even as I tell Our Lord that I love His sunrises, I just wish I didn't have to see so many of them! 

The other day as I was driving and gazing at the gorgeous sunrise filled with hues that are impossible to describe, I was wondering if everyone else saw this sunrise with the same awe that I did.  The deep rose horizon was seamlessly blended into peach rays of light what showered the plains with life and light.  Every day was a new canvas to be filled with the genius of the Almighty and I wondered if every other car on the road saw the sunrise as I did.  Or did they just drive passed the beauty of it, too consumed in their own thoughts? 

For some reason this led me to think of Italy and Europe in general.  I spent a semester studying in Austria and traveling around Europe.  My experience there was one of continual amazement at all that the Lord creates and does.  It was three months of pure beauty.  In my mind, the people of Europe could never get bored with the magnificent architecture that surrounds them, or the glories of the European countryside which must in its very essence be more romantic than my homeland, or the antiquity that surrounds every step in Europe.  I realized during this morning drive that perhaps Europeans did not look at their countries with the same romantic idealism that I did.  Perhaps they do see a sunset at Cinque Terra and aren't filled with awe and wonder at the immensity of God's beauty. 

As I gazed across the Midwestern plains and the early morning sunrise, I thought about how this is one of the most beautiful places on earth.  The rolling plains spreading out lazily to the horizon, allowing one to see for miles and drink in the openness of the earth.  Sunlight kissing the barren trees and setting the world on fire with the dawn of another day.  Little pieces of Heaven if one but has the eyes to see them.  What a gift to experience such beauty, given so freely from the One who loves me best.

And if that is what God can do with mere clouds and light, imagine what He can do with beings made in His own image and likeness.  What immense beauty we could find there.