Every morning that it doesn’t rain I water my garden with the green plastic watering can and look for beauty. It starts as I turn on the outdoor spigot which has a handle shaped like a hummingbird. I offer appreciation. With the first full can I walk to my tiny vegetable patch. I sprinkle the marigolds and the green beans. Something is eating the bean’s leaves but not the beans themselves. I offer appreciation.
The tomatoes are next, starting to produce flowers, and then the peppers, all poblanos this year. As the water falls I see new peppers forming. I offer thanks. Then the herb pots, hardy and green. I try to smell them and plan what I will use for the day. I offer thanks.
I refill the watering can and pull a few weeds. Not all of them but a few. I water all the flowers in bloom. I see the rose bush with a few more buds. I offer appreciation. Then the perennials I planted this year and the two pots of pansies that persist. I reflect on how it is in nature to carry on, to offer beauty for as long as possible. I offer thanks.
The whole process takes 10 minutes. Mornings can be hectic. But this short time of gratitude sets the tone for my day. It reminds me that I have a choice in what I look for, what I notice. Evil and pain are unavoidable, but so is beauty. May you see the beauty God offers us in creation and in each other! Remember to look!