015 Down by the Lake
Driving wearily home on a dusty gravel road, I’ve often stopped the car, rolled down the window, and caught my breath by taking photos of this fallen tree. I’ve deleted dozens of them from my phone. I once wanted to paint it in summer and winter, in rain and in fog. Today I don’t even want to finish my first and only inaccurate attempt. As I relive the fresh country air filling the automobile and the restful beauty centering my soul, the unfinished nature of this watercolor captures the transitory nature of my brief interludes between appointments, errands, and obligations.
With all my comings and goings, with so much in life that’s transitory, I rejoice that God’s love is an eternal constant, that He said,
For I am the Lord, I change not. Malachi 3:6 KJV
Change highlights God’s constancy. Next time I photograph this scene, the light, the water, the clouds and colors, the decay of the fallen tree and the growth that springs from its trunk will be different. And I will be a bit different too. I hope the moment of respite, of the refreshing rest from the responsibilities that took me to town, will remain the same.
