Interlude 2

Yesterday , Lori and I met at a local mall after I got out of my photo shoot. She had wanted to see a movie on her own we planned meet after the movie and have diner together. I located her car in the movie parking lot and found out that I had about 50 minutes before her movie let out.

Almost an hour , and I had left my Camera and Laptop at home ...luckily I had this book I had been reading and decided to actually spend longer than the usual five minutes I can usually focus on a book and sit down and read ..it was warm outside but a nice breeze and a passing shower had cooled things off very nicely.

I found a bench with a view of the Theater so we could spot each other and started reading the book. The mall was busy , it was a Thursday evening but it felt like a Weekend ...Couples strolling together , young people cruisng, small groups of teens attracting each other like atoms and lint .

The movie was slated to get out about 8:15 and it was now about 7:30 ...after really diving into the print I took time to check the clock and it was 7:35 ...this was not going to be easy .

The book was called " Blue like Jazz " by a Portland Artist named Donald Miller , I was enjoying it on several levels , his approach to spirituality , and the fact he lived in my former hometown of Portland Oregon, much of what he was saying was resonating with me , He was talking about the overwhelming oresence of God in all we do , and while he was doing that he was talking of places that I was very familiar with.

ON one of my it must be time but really only five minutes have elasped breaks I looked up and noticed the sky was building up quite nicely for a beautiful sunset. As a Photographer I have become an " expert" on looking for the signs of a wonderful sunset and here I was a Photographer without a camera watching one unfold..and this looked like it could be good. So I reasonably decided best to keep myhead down and not torment me with the view of a sunset I could not take a photo of.

As I was reading I noticed the color of the Paper in the book was changing and so was the reflection on the pavement , I couldn't bear it any longer and I looked up. There are sunsets and there are SUNSETS ..this was a SUNSET. It streatched out all across the sky the Providence 14 Theater right in the middle of its expanse ..The theater colors actually complimented the Sunset. This beauty was comprised of several differfent cloud types , our weather in Nashville is sometimes quite complicate as the warm air from the Gulf of mexico and the cold air from Canda often perform this meteroligical tango in the sky. There were clouds that looked like angel hair long whisps of vapor reaching out to the moon , and rolling clouds full of motion and fury , and great mushrooms of clouds building on top of each other , and all these clouds where collered in soft pinks and corals ...against a pale blue sky.

As I watched I realized I seemed to be the only one watching ..the couples, shoppers , movie goers , the atoms and the Lint , the cruisers and the wannabes ..were so involved in the daily act of living they were indifferent to the wonder above their heads .

It struck me that there fully visible to all was the majesty of an Everlasting God , all they had to do was look up...SO many people who what an experience with God a tangible relationship with an Invisible creator God and here , God was waving a banner that stretched across the heavens saying " HERE I AM " . and they wouldn't look up.

The Poet Walt Whitman in his epic work Leaves of Grass ..wrote that GOD leaves letters for us on the ground for us to pick up and read and then leave for others ...and here was this HUGE banner painted across the horizon for all to see , but few were seeing it ...And yet it was there for all to see ...God is with us , we may not always notice Him nor admire His Handiwork ...but I don't think he is going to take these Sunsets away...Sunsets like His love will Endure forever ...I Love the way He paints ...

As the Colors fade away and gave way to night I felt blessed , and was comforted to be so aware of HIS presence It was Providence I thought ..then I grinned as I realized the " Caption " under this Sunset had been written on the building Lori was in PROVIDENCE 14 ... and I thought hmmmm 14 that's my Birthday October 14 ..Just for fun I counted the letters in Providence 10. 10 /14

I Just had to whisper and prayer and thank God for His presence and present .