(from my window some weeks ago)

"Dawn and sunset are the mystical moments
of the diurnal cycle, 
the moments when the numinous dimension of the universe reveals itself with special intimacy. 
Individually and in their relations with each other 
these are moments when the high meaning of existence is experienced." 

~Thomas Berry, The Great Work, 18

February reflection from the Center for education, imagination, and the natural world https://www.beholdnature.org/

Yesterday the sun rose bright, direct, in an absolutely clear sky. At one point near the start of its day, it shone straight through the eastern window and the kitchen door and into the next room, where I sat working at the computer, facing north. The brilliance coming at a right angle bothered my vision, but I didn’t want to shut the blinds. At one point, I glanced west to get away from the insistent light, to rest my eyes.

After a few moments, my logical mind spoke — explaining to my enchanted child-self that it was probably the slant of the sun through the beveled edge of a clear glass window-hanging.

Time passed. I glanced again. The rainbow had moved and grown.

Logical explanations not withstanding, there is something magical about being bedecked, clad in rainbows– not just the impact of bright colors against a shadow, but even more the movement, the change, the fleeting yet intimate embrace by elemental forces.

This morning the sky was cloudy, the sun muted as it rose. A different kind of gift, a different kind of blessing.