Today D and I went to a coworkers house in SC so D could bid out a side-job; cabinets, flooring and trim. As I wandered outside while they discussed and measured, I noticed a shiny white rock. I picked it up and found it to be a fairly pure quartz crystal. The part that was on the ground was caked with red clay, like the song "Red Dirt Road".
As I rubbed off the dirt and clay I noticed how cleanly the stone had been broken and it's relatively straight angles. I continued to play with the stone as I walked back in the house and talked with the guys. My coworker looked at the rock in my hand questioningly, but didn't ask. When I got home, I scrubbed off the last of the dirt with an old toothbrush and have been studying it ever since.
Why am I telling you about a rock? Why am I going into such detail about something so plain? Because I do not see it as a plain rock. I see it as a beautiful creation and evidence of God's miracles.
I once received a fortune from a cookie that read "You find beauty in ordinary things. Do not lose this ability." Finding beauty in ordinary things. I do truly see this as a gift, a talent given to me that I have helped to hone.
What do you see when you look at a tree, a leaf, a flower, a rock? Do you just see the tree? Does the rock catch your eye or your interest? I see the designs and patterns in the bark, the reaching of the branches towards the sun. I hear the symphony in the wind through the leaves. The pattern of veins in the leaf, giving route for water which is life. The delicacy of the petal, the perfection of the stamen waiting for nature to take it's course and bring the pollen. Life continues.
And the rock. The stone. The pebble. Where has it been? Did it start out on the mountain top? What has it's journey been like? Brought by the river, over the waterfall? Did it get pushed up from deep in the earth by heat and force? Was it carried by glaciers from far continents eons ago? What has it seen? Where will it go next?
Look at the cracks created by force and pressure. The minerals pushed inside bring color and diversity. Red is iron, white is quartz, green is copper. Water smooths the edges while heat and force sharpen lines. See the shape and feel the texture. Add it to my collection.
I wonder what other eyes would see in my shiny white rock?
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