“The roar of the ocean, the gentle yet insistent crash of frothy waves, and the stars above have, on numerous occasions, made me feel like I had entered another world. It seems to me that the grand mystery of the ocean is an illustration for the grand mystery of God.” –Mark Almquist-Murray, Fruit of the Vine

Query: When have you experienced the mystery and beauty of God’s creation?

Easter Morning

Vested clergy, their souls engorged

by millennia of annual hunts

for an elusive Lord Christ, lead shuffles

of caffeinated seekers across parking lots.

Their parades track alleluias

and scatter astonishments over chilled

pavement and past sheds, still mum

from the night before.

Their processions spread praises

near dumfounded dumpsters below

crane-neck lights blinking and dozing.

Softened by therapy of the sun, soil

beside the asphalt waits for seeds

to be pressed in, and for root-ball offerings

to be presented from the knees,

to the altar of the earth, prepared today,

as on no other, for growth of mystery

–Jeffrey Johnson, This Will Be a Sign