Staring into the darkness of my garden this morning. I'm struggling to make out the form of anything. I know there's a whole variety of colour and texture out there, but it's not yet visible. All I can see is a thin line of gold in the distance, between the jagged shadows. That gold slowly fades to apricots and lemons, while the sky lightens into view. And that soft dawn light picks out the shapes of tall, slender trunks and mish-mashed foliage. With each brightening moment, more colour and detail meets my eye, and something occurs to me. Each plant that is becoming clear to me, with its own shades of green, leaf and trunk textures, floral decorations, and abilities to glow and reflect that ever-changing light - they already had those properties, there in the dark! But they were unable to show them - because the light wasn't there to give them expression! There is beauty in all of us. God made us in his image - and he is beautiful. But it's not seen in the darkness. He is the light that brings out the colour and vibrance in us that we were meant to share.
