Richard Rohr and The Center for Action and Contemplation’s daily meditations this week are centered on seeing nature with new eyes. Nature photography is, after prayer and music, my primary form of worship. I spend a lot of time outdoors with my camera, and each time I go out I expect to be surprised by some unmistakable evidence of the presence of God. Photography is all about catching the way light works with color and texture and form to convey some truth that resonates with our souls. Nature photography in particular, for me, is all about catching the hand of the artist at work…whether it is in a flower, or a bird, or a chipmunk, a flowing stream or piled clouds…always in some encounter with wonder…some encounter that makes me smile…that delights me…that makes me feel blessed and part of the living moment of creation…this particular living moment. So I am going to share a few photos this week, with the intention of exploring how I see nature, how I see God in nature, and sharing my delight. This photo is of Trout Lily…sometimes known as Adder’s Tongue, Fawn Lily, Yellow Dog-tooth Violet, etc. They are among the first flowers of spring, following the Maple Flowers high in the trees, appearing as brown mottled leaves (like a brook trout in rippling water), poking up through the leaf litter, shaped and paired like the tips of a snake’s tongue (Adder’s Tongue). Within a few warm days, generally less than a week, the blossoms develop and open…yellow reverse curved petals with clustered yellow or bright orange stamens loaded with pollen. And then they are gone. Only a few of the plants flower each year, so mostly you find beds of the leaves…but even they are quickly overgrown. I go looking for them every spring. There are two flowers in this photo. The one in front dominates but the one in back doubles the effect. And in seeing that, in getting the camera down low on my little tripod, in framing it in the flipped out screen of the camera…checking focus…making sure the camera is set to capture what I see…the light and color and form and texture…in the act of photographing the flowers, I am, somehow, participating in God’s creation…even more in sharing what I saw. I am thinking: “God did this. What an awesome God! What a privilege to be right here, right now, and to see this…to have the eyes to see the beauty and the mind and hands to catch it…and the ability to share it. What an awesome God!” Yes, all that in the simple Trout Lily in the forest of spring.