Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Simply Holy

I know I have broken your trust and promised posts and not delivered....I'm not sure why you're reading this right now with the spotty history that I have exhibited...but I am done with excuses and explanations.  (if i don't promise anything I can't let you down!)  :)  I will say that sometimes the desire to Blog doesn't perfectly translate into post.  But on to the meat and potatoes-leaving behind the old and surging on to something new and exciting.



Not long ago I was accused of blasphemous speech as a result of my over usage of ‘holy vocabulary’.  It was said that by over using such words as “heavenly” or “glorious” I was degrading their value to common place adjectives.  Saying, for instance “this cheesecake tastes heavenly” or “that sunset is glorious” (which I admittedly do often) was sacrilegious.  This person asked… “do you really think so little of heaven or glory to throw them around so lightly?”  Which got me thinking…

 
As I ate a delectable pain au chocolat from the Bouchon Bakery in Yountville this morning I contemplated this description dilemma…   it was a crisp, buttery, flakey exterior with a soft doughy center graced by two smooth rich decadent dark chocolate logs whose sweetness was perfectly complimented by the saltiness of the excessive amounts of butter used in its preparation.  And… after a moment’s pause I could not think of another word other than….mmmmmmm…..heavenly.   

 

The glistening grape leaves of gold and garnet with spatterings of chartreuse heavily hung on the vines…. The play of shadow and sun light through billowy cumulous clouds in a sapphire sky... The kaleidoscope of colors (and enticing smells) at a local Farmer’s Market… the bite of the autumn air on your nose whilst your body is kept cozy with a soft plum pashmina… all these are simply…glorious.



 


And though I may be guilty of sometimes using these terms without always fully thinking through their meaning, I firmly assert that they should be used more and not less.  For in all these things that I find delight is the Glory of God.  In all these things that tickle my tongue with happiness or amaze my eyes with the splendor of creation is His holiness… a piece of heaven in this life on earth.  What better way to describe the wonders around than to do so through acknowledging He who blessed us with them all.  Heaven is in the smallest and simplest things… His glory is reflected in the common place every day that we may rarely notice.  More often than not we take God out of the world around us by merely acknowledge “its” beauty and not His role in making it so.  Everything from Him is holy and we are to bask in the enjoyment of it!