The moment one gives close attention to any thing,
even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome,
indescribably magnificent world in itself.
~Henry Miller

This week’s smattering of snow may have been only a small drop in the proverbial bucket, but regardless of its lack of abundance, what fell in my yard created mesmerizing and fetching beauty.  Branches and twigs looked like they’d been dotted with tiny confectionary cotton balls while things with larger patches of snow resembled what I’d describe as the scattering results of happy children hurling snow balls.  Especially intriguing was one of  the “snow-ball victims” which was a dried and split seed pod; it looked as though it had been filled to the brim like a tiny snow cone minus the syrup stained color.  The glamorizing effects of the snow on the few colorful things left in the yard made the trip out into the cold to take pictures fruitful, but then even the most ordinary “magnificent” snowy things would have drawn me out as well.

A garden consists of many worlds, and each one is capable of becoming what Henry Miller described as “a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”  This is especially true when the element of snow is added to the mix as witnessed this week; upon close scrutiny, the most diminutive or unattractive things added touches of exquisite beauty.  Such phenomena is a testament that no matter how small or insignificant any part of Creation seems, in the “right” light, it is, in fact, a “mysterious, awesome, and indescribably magnificent” thing to behold.  Julian of Norwich said we are not simply made by God but we are made of God.   Given that, we must see ourselves not as the world sees us but as He sees us.  The fact that we come from the “womb of God” means that we’re as beautiful as He and that somewhere in our being His great goodness and beauty are to be found.