Intricacies

Have you ever noticed the veins in a leaf that fell many months ago?  Orange and crumbly, it nearly disintegrates as you pick it up to examine its intricacy.  I’m amazed at the strength of those veins.  Though not unbreakable, they hold firm until deliberate action is taken for their breakage.  Like the rotating blade of a mower.  Or the fast-moving shoe on a child playing hide-and-seek.  Or the curious hands of an intricacy-admirer.

Someone once told me about an experience they had in Nairobi, Kenya.  There were thousands upon thousands of people in view.  Overwhelmed, he realized that each will spend eternity somewhere.  Each pair of those beautifully dark eyes that have no doubt seen what no man or woman should have to see.  Each and every. single. one. has a soul and a heart and a mind.  Each was woven separately.  Intricately. 

One of the cats who live in the barn next door had kittens.  What is it about baby anythings that elicits such heart-skipping adoration?  Why do my children’s voices immediately jump into that high-pitched, squeal of delight at the sight of anything baby?  Like the baby elephant at the zoo.  Or a friend’s newborn.  The miracle of life for sure.  But, even more, is the mere fact that anything in miniature seems to magnify the intricacies of its larger version.  Like a baby elephant’s ears.  And the kittens’ adorable little paws.  And a newborn baby’s teeny tiny toenails. 

I am inspired to wonder.  And to unwrap this gift that is simply not wrappable.  Because Creator-God constructed such elaborate design, how incomprehensibly amazing He Himself must be.