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Snow Shadows
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Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 2/7/22
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow due to change."
- James 1:17
One of the things I like to photograph after it snows are the patterns made by the shadows of the trees as they stretch across the snow. These patterns are most clearly seen right after sunrise or right before sunset. During the middle of the day when the sun is high in the sky the shadows are much shorter and less graphic. This image was made in late afternoon on our property. Scripture tells us that every good gift and every perfect gift comes to us from above, and I thought of that as I looked at this image. All art in the natural world is a gift from above and it comes from the Father of lights. Those who have eyes to see it can see it and those who don't ignore it. This is true in the spiritual realm also. Every spiritual gift originates, not from within us, but outside of us in the mind of God. We often forget this and boast of what we have accomplished instead of what God has accomplished in us. We have nothing of value, including our salvation, that did not first come to us from above as a gift. These shadows I photographed, these patterns painted upon the snow, will vary in length and shape as the sun either rises or sets. But the author of this art never varies. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We serve a God we can always depend upon to never vary in his promises or his character. He is the only rock in the sands of an ever-shifting world. And his desire to bless those who are his with gifts from above will never change. So, my advice is that we all open our eyes to the many gifts that he constantly showers upon us. Never forget where these gifts come from, and never cease to praise the Giver. Shadows vary. He doesn't. - John
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