I worship You, Lord,
God of all beauty,
Who has given, by thought and word,
the severe majesty of mountains and valleys,
sunlight kissing the young woman’s face,
the satellite’s view into dark infinity,
cool air on my neck on a hot afternoon,
layers of violins striding over deep cello,
the elevating hug of hero and the helped,
the majesty of a walk-off home run,
when truth, uncovered, prevails and makes right,
a chorus of crickets chirping after a long hard day,
when the fever breaks finally for good,
the tenderness amidst a first wedding night,
and the devotion behind a 50th anniversary party,
glowing dew on a spider’s web,
that moment of free fall when dropping off the high dive,
after years or silence, the words “Please forgive me”,
earnest foster parents who just love,
the piercing first cry from a newborn child,
the quiet around receiving the bread and the cup,
a strand of smoke rising from a white valley cabin,
the bruised blue sky over a sullen sea after a heavy rain,
the silencing of weeks of gunfire,
lips meeting for the first time,
and for all the middle times,
and for the last time,

and the sun rising yet-
above disappointments
and failures
and forsakenness
and divorces
and tragedies
and crimes
and wars-
the sun rising still,
again,
and again,
and again,
day after day,
Your promise that
light and life-
and beautiful things-
go on.

You fill my days with
sights and scenes and sounds
that lift my heart
at moments
when I am lost within-
and You lift me up to see
that there is more,
there is better,
there is wonder
beyond what I think,
what I have seen,
what I have known.

And You remind me that
this world,
this universe,
is the work of Your hand,
crafted in pure love,
and it is,
despite the troubles of this day,
flooded with Your goodness,
carefulness,
and greatness.
And they are signs
that you love it.
That you love your creation.
That you love me.

Thank you, Father.

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:16-17

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Inspired by the track, “Fight Day”, by Thomas Newman, which is on the soundtrack for the film “Cinderella Man”