Full Moon and Sunshine

What a day! Days of cloud and drizzle help us appreciate this one. I follow the Apostle Paul and try to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18)--but I'd rather go out on a day like today. PLUS, I might be able to crank up the motorcycle later for a little pastoral visit.

This morning, my dog Payton and I explored a new running route, 133 toward Millwood (standing off the road when cars passed), left on Seven Bridges, left on Lawrence Farms Crossway, left on Old Roaring Brook, and then home on Millwood Rd.

Several marvels:

• First, seeing the full moon low in the western sky! 
• Then a small deer dead in the road on Seven Bridges with a scavenger (fox or coyote?) working to clean it up. We stopped to push the carcass out of the road and prevent additional carnage. 
• Next, rays of sunshine filtered through leaves and illuminating the misty air. (I've felt the Presence in those beams since childhood days when I'd imagine God as the sun sending its fingers of light from behind a cloud.) 
• But the great gift of the morning was a perfectly still pond near Old Orchard Rd., with sunlit trees reflected in the water.

What a place of beauty we've come to. May my neighbors appreciate it, even when the skies are cloudy.

--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor