As Above, So Below...On Earth, as it is in Heaven

Jun 20, 2024

A few nights ago, a colleague of mine shared about how this photo (posted a few days ago) spoke deeply to her.

We talked a while about it and I remembered that I had also recorded a video of the same and sent that along to her. Here’s that moment.

That was a week or so ago.

Then came this morning.

As Scout and I arrived at the lake, I looked up at the early colors in the sky and saw this above.

That’s not in the water, that’s in the sky. It looked so nearly the same as what I had seen moving across the water. What stirred in my heart was the phrase “As above, so below” which I later discovered has its origins in an 8th century Arabic tablet and has moved from there into philosophy, theology, music, and even to one of the cards in a Tarot deck. But what also stirred for me in this is Jesus’ words in what we call the Lord’s Prayer today... “on earth as it is in heaven.”

So there it was - in the sky what I had seen only a few days before on the water in that same place around the same time. As above, so below. On earth as it is in heaven.

But that would have been enough of a beautiful, holy, and soul-stirring morning, but it continued into a line of clouds stretching out from the rising sun across the sky toward the east.

My first reaction upon seeing it was that it felt like the closer to the Source we are, the clearer things can be. But the further we go away from the Source, the more diffuse and uncertain things become. I was texting with a friend who I knew to also be up at that hour and she happened to be seeing the same and wrote this, “I was just walking the dog before leaving for the airport - saw this and thought of nearly the same thing. The path, the journey, all leading back to the Source, the Light.” I liked my friend’s interpretation. Thanks friend!

It was at this point that I felt I had to stop walking. It was a moment that called for stillness and just soaking in what I before me. So Scout and I just sat down there on the path for 15-20 minutes, just soaking it all in. And the sky continued to change even further. The line stretching from the horizon remained but the light began to grow more diffuse and wider.

I’ve been to this spot so many times but I don’t remember seeing a contrast like this - between the smooth, diffuse clouds spreading out towards the more defined clouds beyond. It was stunning. I thought of a lyric from a song that was often sung in my campus ministry when I was in college... “...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of God’s glory and grace.” I hummed that a bit as Scout and I saw there.

Scout, of course, also had to get into the act. She just sat there right next to me. I don’t know what was going through her head but...

She also had to have a photo of her other side as well.

These moments were glorious. Renewing. Filling. Beautiful.

And it was also shared. It was shared with my friend with whom I was texting. It was shared with my wife as she got up and saw the image I had sent her. It was shared with Scout. And it was shared with a woman who I realized had been standing on the overlook above us taking in the same beautiful scene.

I spoke with her as she walked down the steps a bit later from the overlook and she shared about the beauty she saw in the moment as well. A few minutes later, she sat down not far from where Scout and I had been and I saw her silhouette against the reflection of the sun on the water. Out came the camera and then a question asking permission if I could share this photo (which she gave).

And then yet one more thing. I saw on social media that I shared this photo 3 years ago today from roughly the same place. That morning was a day of truly unique and astounding beauty. Here’s what I wrote that day.

Must be something about the summer solstice!

But as beautiful as it was, it was only temporary. Scout was tired of being out in the heat and humidity (so was I) and I needed to move into the rest of the day. But wow...what a start.

As above, so below, on earth as it is in heaven.

A few more things...

First one of the benches wanted to get in on the act this morning...

And then a few photos from the last few days. Our magnolia tree is in full bloom and this one bloom looked just about perfect. There are so many beautiful white flowers all over Maggie. We love her.

And this moment from a few days ago. Imagine this scene but all the sparkles in the water sparkling away and not just in a still image.

And finally, two photos of one of our page-a-day calendars called Thoughts of Dog (a social media cousin of the greatest social media feed in the world - We Rate Dogs). These perfectly reflect life with Scout.