The small beauty of the overlooked…

From The Pastor’s Desk

When I was 18, I took a cross-country train trip by myself in the early autumn. It was the first time I traveled alone, and the relaxed pace of rail travel allowed me to appreciate the beauty of the landscape. Seeing the Great Lakes, the prairie, Glacier National National Park, and the Columbia River gorge were all breathtaking. But, I also became aware of a different kind of beauty. On the outskirts of towns, along rail sidings and train yards, scrub brush was turning.

I never really gave much thought to scrub brush. I certainly spent a good deal of time clearing brush from the properties I maintained as a landscaper. Even today, I’m not that confident in discerning the species that creep in overgrown lots and abandoned places. But, in October, these nameless plants in forgotten locations show forth their glory. Unlike the riotous colors of maples, sycamores and poplar, brush turns into metallics and pastels, bronze and lavender.

More than 20 years later and this memory stays with me. It reminds me to look for beauty in overlooked places and situations. It remind me that even the things that I deem insignificant or unimportant in my own life can have a beauty of their own. As the year turns ever on and Autumn begins to truly assert itself, I pray that you will have a chance to appreciate the small beauty of the overlooked, in both scrub land and in your own lives.

— Pastor Jon