today, i stared at two scenes for quite some time. number one: a red-breasted bird wiry with energy, hopping about the grass in no particluar pattern and with no apparent goal. number two: a sprawling oak tree set against a bright blue cloudless sky - just lit from the right side by the glow of the sun. a serene scene as i stared up at it, my back on nature's green carpet. a ton of atmosphere per square inch pouring down on me, yet complete freedom in thought. i laid and watched the tree, grown every which way - decades upon decades of storms and seasons. ins and outs, branches and limbs attach leaves to trunk to roots. so seemingly random, yet never ceasing in its treeness. God made the tree to be a tree, for whatever reason. it seems to make the most sense to me that God, as creator delights in the very act of creating and in this tree i could see God's desire to create bark and leaf and photosynthesis for the purpose of pleasing him. That little bird, just hopping around - that pleases the Lord, and simply because he made it, it is good. to think that the God who delights in even the sparrows raw energy takes a delight in me and my life. trees give home to sparrows. beauty - simple beauty. witness - witness i'll be.