Glorious Sunset Moonrise

The shoreline is quickly crowded with viewers rushing toward a dazzling sunset

Cameras snapping over and over as others sit quietly basking in the glow of red, orange, and yellow streaks across the sky

There is a holiness to the hush as the sun dips into the sea and as if on a pulley, the full harvest moon arises in sync with the sunset.

Without realizing, the crowd is being awed by the creator of all things —

light, darkness, seasons, change,

even the ability to appreciate the gift of nature’s art

All created by a living, loving, masterful artist.

He is the Lord God who has lifted the same moon over centuries.

He has pressed the same sun into the same ocean of millennia.

He has painted the same sky over and over for time infinitum.

He has turned the pages of the seasons repeatedly over generations.

And still his most beloved creation, you, me, the homeless, the wealthy, the weakest, the strongest, the worn down and the high and mighty, all stop to acknowledge the stunning beauty and majesty of a sunset. A moonrise.

Who ever said, “how boring” as the sun blazed brilliant colors across the sky?

Who ever didn’t gasp at the enormity of a harvest moon in all its glory?

Who says it’s all just a monotonous routine, the rising, the setting, the brilliance, the tides, the change of seasons, the ebb and flow of life?

The stunning beauty of it all should ignite a spirit of praise within us that leads to complete devotion to the most high God, to the most magnificent artist, to the creator of heaven and earth.

©Belindabotzong2018

Welcome Back Autumn

The winds of change are blowing

Leaves tumble and twirl in delight

Autumn arrives with a wet kiss on summer’s cheek

Refreshing the earth, the air, my soul

Days darken sooner with a refreshing coolness

Night lingers longer with a crispness in the morning breeze

Welcome back Autumn!

©Belindabotzong2018

I Saw Myself

I saw myself today

30 years ago a newlywed

In that cabin across the river

Where I sat for hours watching the currents sweep over the boulders

Time spent with my lover in solitude and adventure with dreams of the future and contented pleasure.

I saw myself today

20 years ago a mom of two hilarious children

Camped out on the floor in that cabin across the river

A family on vacation, swimming hole, and fishing poles

A walk to the gingerbread factory, the hat shop and the toy store ending with a German pretzel and dinner at the Baren Haus.

I saw myself today

In the present

Reflected in a store window

Shopping and thinking and exploring

Years of child-raising replaced by caring for my elderly mom

Picking wildflowers and pine cones and creating new things in my head

A time of respite and renewal, observing the changes that have taken place and those things that never change.

I saw myself today

20 years from now

Walking hand in hand with the same man I always loved

Coming to a light pole in the sidewalk with hands temporarily parting

Quickly rejoined to explore that same town we always have, getting bratwurst, walking to Blackbird Island, and talking about the years gone by

I saw myself today

30 years in the future

My white hair askew as a caregiver pushes me, donned in a royal purple bathrobe in a wheelchair down the Main Street

Past the horse and buggy, past the shops and restaurants

A pile of flowers and ornamental grasses on my lap gleaned from the passing displays and gardens

A smile on my face in memory of days gone by.

©Belindabotzong2018

KISS OF SPRING

Spring blew a kiss into the sky

Winter caught it in her winds and blustered

Spring sprinkled warm sunlight everywhere

Winter tried to hide it with her puffed up clouds

Spring poured sweet perfumes of fresh cut grass and daffodil blooms across the valley

Winter inhaled and sneezed a cold breeze across her snow drenched mountain tops

Spring presses hard against winter’s intensity

Winter presses back to remind spring it’s not her time

Not quite

But soon

©Belindabotzong2018

Sanity Returns

Muddled vision blurred by irrational thoughts and ideas replaced with sparkling Clarity

The gears slow to an even rhythm

The whirring and whizzing of rapidly changing thoughts reach a steady state

Rapid fire words and reactions and emotions ride an even keel of tempered conversations and deep thought

Images and frequencies normalize into reality

Like dials in a sound booth the knobs of medication and sleep and therapy fine tune and gradually remove the static and noise

The artifacts of stimulation and simulation and wild random churning waves are refined into coherent and rational thoughts and ideas

Turning the corner. Changing the tidal wave of anger and betrayal into deep loving gracious waves of thankfulness

We all breathe deeply again

Tension releases

Eggshells are swept away

Gracious forgiveness

Sanity Returns

Praise God

©Belindabotzong2018