first snow

As I reach the end of the stairs, something catches my eye. A cool blue light illuminates the dark concrete entry. The walls seem to shimmer and glow, and the windows enrapture me as they reveal winter’s first release of treasured snow. I dash out the door to feel first, not the snow itself, but its ability to mute and insulate all around me as it swallows up the bang of the door and leaves me, alone, encased in a serene cocoon of silence and song, amplifying as it mutes the ringing of it’s own silence. In the stillness, the gentle fall of the crystalline notes sing as they land on my upturned face and outstretched hands, each one unique, yet all the same in their cold exuberant fury. They bounce and trot before my face, waltzing down from heaven and out into the bright cold day for miles and miles, completely surrounding and dazzling me with a brilliant performance to rival any light show. 

Rose petal

Late evening solitude

Late evening solitude. The calm and cool evening air drifting in through the crack in the window, cooling the room and the hectic day behind. Coltrane throwing down hot agitation and cool smoothness that stirs the breeze. Music to my right, books to my left; the best man and maid of honor in this marriage of sound and story. A candle, lit, and casting shadows. Light bouncing off the walls of my room, characters, connections, questions bouncing off the walls of my head. Incense burning, slowly and soothingly, taking up with it my thoughts, my concerns, in winding tails of smoke that trail around me, drift up to the ceiling and out the window. Feeling it all start to gather, the music, the thoughts, the stories, the strong aroma, the smoke rises into the air swirling and mixing, gaining intensity and power, faster and faster. I can almost see it, coming to culmination. Then, fading, dropping back and resolving. I begin to drift off to await the next coming late evening solitude.

Beauty

When I think of beauty I am always drawn to water. Most people, I assume, when thinking about beauty in nature are drawn to light in one way or another; Sunrises, Sunsets, Bright blue clear skies, Shafts of gold coming through a canopy of green. Light has a certain ability to bring out the beauty in other things, but hidden within itself is the beauty of color. The beauty of water is brought out by that light in shimmering oceans and streams and in pristine pools while the subtle ability of water to bend and distort is what brings out the true beauty in light. These two things I would say are elements of beauty. They enhance each other while also enhancing everything around them. My affinity for water makes me notice more and more the water in nature. In rainbows I see mist. In clouds I see rain. In reflections I see ripples. These elements are indeed beautiful, but there is so much more beauty in nature that to see and contemplate only those is a waste of the gift of vision. It is better to notice and observe as much as you can, because beauty cannot be exhausted.

Truth

How does one determine what is true? Well first of all what is truth? Truth is reality, nothing more nothing less, and the individual can only change the truth as much they can change reality. Some may say that truth is determined by consensus of the people, but can the consensus of the people change reality? No, If the people decided by consensus that the earth was flat, would that make the earth crumble and reform itself

into a cube? No, Truth is reality. It cannot be changed. Truth is absolute, it is not relative or personal. Truth is sometimes confused with opinion or feeling. Someone who says “That is your truth, but this is my truth” is confusing the two. These two people do not have conflicting truths, but rather conflicting opinions. The truth of the matter is that if one truth contradicts another than one or both of them are not true.

The individual does not determine truth, He only perceives it. Because the individual can change only a small part of reality, the vast majority of truth the individual does not determine. To perceive truth correctly, the individual needs to have a standard with which to compare things. This standard needs to be either known to be absolutely true or be the best logical choice that makes the most sense. One of these standards is observational science. The individual can compare things to what has been observed and studied in order to determine what is true. Another standard and by far more credible than observational science is the word of the creator of all that can be observed, the Bible. The individual is able to test the input from many different sources against the truth of the bible and can perceive correctly what the truth is. And that is by far the best way to see the truth. 

Reading in the woods

Nature melds so perfectly with the words in a book

The gentle breeze pulling at the pages 

Those pages that hold the wisdom of the ages

A secret that is not so easily kept 

From the curious and hungry eyes

Of the reader in the woods

Polar bear

Reflecting great Ursa in your grace

Clumsiness, Majesty, Vulgarity, Beauty, Baseness, Innocence

Humble, Majestic, Axial creature

Chameleon of geography, Stark in the mind

reflections of a high school girls prayer meeting

The small talk

Idle chit-chat

Begging deeper meaning

But never seeming to

Dive, to seek

Week by week

But still it will

Come to be

Under the surface

It will be free

The reason for meeting

Not just to have fun

To be unified and seen as one

Jazz

Jazz

Music freely flowing

No rhyme or reason for going

Now slowly growing

Emotion showing

Free flowing

Now throwing

Notes left and right

Let it go all night

Do not fear the flight

Of meter and time

Reason and rhyme

It flows within

So let it begin.