The Stream of Well-Being

Seen here on August 6, 2008

It caught my eye as I looked across. Even from a distance I could see that the photograph was exquisitely beautiful.

It was shades of grays, blacks and whites, a nature scene; Trees in a forest standing out from the gray background of what looked like an early spring storm. The clouds behind were gray and full with that heaviness that you can see from impending rain. Gazing upon the photograph you could almost smell the storm, feel the chill in the air that comes before the clouds break.

The trees, with their familiar white bark were Quaking Aspen. The bright green leaves of the aspens were gone, yet it seemed that if you could look closer you would see the tiny buds of new leaves poking through. The trees stood as a stark contrast of black, white and gray against the dark clouds. But the most eye-catching part of the photograph was peeking out from the bottom. On the ground, below the gray of the trees, was the most brilliant green and beautiful pink of new flowering blooms.

The foliage was reemerging.

It looked like spring was arriving after a long winter.

As I got closer I was able to read the caption that had been provided. The photograph was not taken at the end of the winter but was actually a depiction of the aftermath of a devastating forest fire. That was the reason why the aspens were shades of grays, blacks and whites, why it looked like the end of winter and early spring before the leaves came back on the trees. Yet as the emerging foliage proved, even in the face of the devastation from the forest fire, the wild flowers, the grasses and the leaves were coming back, returning to the natural beauty and the well-being that is our world.

The natural beauty of the forest was returning.

And that is the way of nature. Things happen. Sometimes devastating things happen. But nature always comes back.

Back to the Source of Well-Being that is throughout the Universe.