The Burning Bush

I love the colours of fall.   When we first moved here, I carefully planted and rearranged our garden so that there would be joy and colour and expression for each season.  Some trees and shrubs are particularly full of interest and bring delights for several seasons.  One of my favourites is a Paperbark maple tree that I planted right up close to my kitchen window.  The peeling bark is interesting and attractive all through the year, but adds special flavour in the winter when so much has retreated in the cold and wet.  It is also full of radiant colour now.  It's leaves bring orange and reds next to a constantly changing Persian parrotia tree with long slender branches reaching out with abandon in all directions.  Over the last few weeks the parrotia has transformed from a mass of green to purplish red, to deep orange and now to bright yellow. As I finish up the dishes and the never ending round of cooking and kitchen clean up I am reminded of Moses and the burning bush.  In the midst of our daily lives, there are sacred reminders that God is present  right in the heart of it all.  I want to live in wonder and expectation for His presence in the ordinary.