Last night around midnight, Michelle poked her head out the back door and called my name. I responded and soon was back in the house. When she saw my camera in tow, she said, “What are you taking a picture of?” It did seem dark and bleak outside to the naked eye. But with a long exposure, the hidden beauty of the scene became apparent. So it is with our Heavenly Father. Although we often only see the bleak and the dark, He knows the hidden beauty around us and within us. Often it takes a “long exposure” for that beauty to become manifest.

Beauty Exposed- midnight in Las Vegas

The details and events of our earth life are tangible and can teach us, symbolically, of spiritual things that are not so easily perceived. Yesterday morning, I awoke to this beautiful scene at sunrise. The lighting was striking due to the cloud cover over the rising sun on the east side of the valley. This marvel was fleeting, the rich colors lasting just a few minutes. No time for the DSLR; just me and my iPhone. Five minutes later and I never would have known what I had missed. So it is as we try to understand and apply spiritual truths. There are moments in which God speaks to our souls with beautiful spiritual colors. Are we awake? Are we checking the morning horizon? Or are we sleeping in spiritually? May we be ready for the spiritual promptings God is sending our way?

In Isaiah 61:3, the Lord describes the amazing effects of His Atonement, including the miracle of making beauty out of the ashes of our lives. In all things, He provides earthly metaphors to help us understand His important truths. Surrounding the July 4th holiday this year, fire raged in the mountains just west of Las Vegas. Yes, there was a wake of destruction left by the burning. But from “the ashes” we were also blessed with sky-filled beauty during the sunset hours of those smoky days.

Desert Shores Sunset July 5, 2013