In a Parking Lot

Whenever I read Psalm 19, it takes me back to the first photo/scripture thing I did. It was back in 1993 I think. I spent the summer in Belize serving at a youth camp and at the end of the trip, I took a picture of a sunrise over the ocean. When I got home, I developed it and made a framed thing for my parents with this passage. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim God’s handiwork...” When I look at the pictures I have taken, I have taken more pictures of sunrises and sunsets than any other subjects (not including my family). So there’s something about those early morning and late evening moments that continue to connect with me. After all it was a holy experience during a sunset in 2013 that started me on this photographic journey.

So, yesterday morning, my daily readings began with Psalm 19 and it brought me back to those many moments of sunrises and sunsets. And then as I was walking out of the gym after an early workout, I saw this sunrise. As I took it in there in the parking lot of a Planet Fitness, I reflected on how we can see the beauty of God wherever and whenever - we just need to have our hearts, our eyes, our minds, and our lives open. I don’t need to be on the coast of Belize to be reminded of how the heavens declare the glory of God. It can happen in a parking lot on an early Sunday morning as well.