The light of the world.

"Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world.'"
~ John 8:12

Today is Easter - Resurrection Sunday - and I want celebrate this light that has entered the world...my world. Today, I am struck with the fact that I've seen the literal light of God shine down on so many places in this world. I have seen the skies open up over Florence after one of the hardest rains. I've seen dots of crystal dance on the water in a New England bay, and greenish-goldenness highlight a single blade of grass in New Mexico. There is so much light around us, so much light to be captured. I think it's amazing we were given this light first in Christ Himself. And then we were given things like grass and sky and sea and people's faces, so we wouldn't forget. Oh God, I hope I never stop seeing it.

{For more, see The Perfect Time Of Day. And last year's post on Eastering.}

{rome, italy: vatican city}

{dallas, texas: SMU campus}

{florence, italy: sunset from piazza michaelangelo}

{india: peace city orphanage}

{dallas, texas: my livingroom}

{las mochas, new mexico}

{palos verdes, california: my and jen's shadows}

{manhattan beach, california}

{franklin, tennessee}

{dallas, texas: at the arboretum}

{clinton, new jersey: roadside harvest stand}

{kampala, uganda}

{nairobi, kenya: at new life orphanage}

{new york, new york: central park}

{east texas: blueberry farm}

{nashville, tennessee: centennial park}

{san antonio, texas: guadalupe river}

{nashville, tennessee: belmont campus rose garden}

{seaside, florida}

{maine: acadia national park}

{deer isle, maine}

{new york, new york: my and steven's shadows in central park}

{mackinac island, michigan}

{tuscany, italy}

{cinque terre, italy}

I watch this morning
for the light that the darkness has not overcome.
I watch for the fire that was in the beginning
and that burns still in the brilliance of the rising sun.
I watch for the glow of life that gleams in the growing earth
and glistens in sea and sky.
I watch for your light, O God,
in the eyes of every living creature
and in the ever-living flame of my own soul.
If the grace of seeing were mine this day
I would glimpse you in all that lives.
Grant me the grace of seeing this day.
Grant me the grace of seeing.

~ from Celtic Benediction by J. Philip Newell