“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances…”

I Thessalonians 5:16

A dear friend of mine by the name of Dewitt Jones used to shoot photographs for the National Geographic. He and I put a conference on together at Zephyr Point one summer where he gave tips to people on how to shoot photography and I brought in the spiritual aspect by leading bible studies. It was a beautiful combination of discussing scriptures like “Consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin, yet even King Solomon in all of his glory was not adorned like one of these.” (Matthew 5) And then to go out in nature and take photographs and absorb all of the beauty around us. One night

we had all of the participants go out and take photographs of the sunset. I can’t begin to tell you how many conferences that I have gone to at Zephyr Point and it has been so hard to sit in my chair and listen to the speaker when I see all of these glorious colors brimming on the horizon. With this conference, Mother Nature was the speaker and we went outside to absorb what she had to say. I remember that Mother Nature put on a spectacular show that night and she did not disappoint. When the sun went down and the colors began to lose their vibrancy, we all shouted from wherever we were on the grounds, “Thank you!” There was a “thank you!” here and a “thank you!” there, popping up all around us and floating on the water. And then we all gathered together in deep gratitude for the spectacular show that was gifted to us. As Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), a medeval mystic, once said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Friends, I encourage you to take in the beautiful gifts of nature that God gives to us everyday whether it be the brilliant colors of a sunset or the simplicity of a delicate flower. And when you do, may say this simple prayer…Thank you!!