Depth Perception

I love the fall. And up here on Leadpole Mountain it’s been especially gorgeous. The locals say that the weather conditions haven’t been ideal this year to produce great foliage colors, but you won’t hear me complain. I can’t imagine a prettier view than the one from my back deck overlooking the Nacoochee Valley and the mountains on the other side.

A few days ago, however, I was standing outside lamenting the passing of my favorite season. Instead of leaves of red, gold, and orange I was seeing the old gray bones of the trees that the fallen leaves had left behind. It was kind of drab and sad.

But then I glanced left and saw something I hadn’t seen on this mountain before. The sunset. There it was – glowing bright yellow, fading to burnt umber, fading to vermillion. (Thank you Crayola Crayons for giving names to these colors.) Of course, the sunset had been there all along, everyday, in fact, but I hadn’t seen it because of the fat, full trees in front of it. As beautiful as the trees were, what they hid was just as lovely.

It was as if God had been waiting, saving this new vista for me for the right time. It was like He had peeled back a layer on my perspective to reveal another, just as spectacular.

I’ve often considered life to be like the seasons. That’s not a new concept I know. A lot of people use that analogy. But I got an insight that day beyond the seasons – that life also comes in layers – various views stacked in sequence, one in front of the other– like scenic flats on a stage. Each one is beautiful in its own right and as the Director makes the call, the layers move to the forefront or fade into a background. As the “seasons” change, so do the layers that are hidden for a while but may appear in another scene – later on.

I am not allowed to see deeply beyond the moment. I often want to, but I can’t. I do not have that kind of depth perception. I have to realize that the current, closest façade may linger for a little while (or a long time) and trust that there are others behind it – that God will reveal them to me at just the right moment.

Job 37:14-16 asks,  “Stand and consider the wonders of God. ‘Do you know how God establishes them, And makes the lightning of His cloud to shine? Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge..?’”

I think not.