family life, spiritual life

Beautiful from every angle

JOY journal

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

There was a point during a brief trip to my hometown over the holidays that I stood outside a skating rink with our daughters. Had it not been for a career twist or two, they likely would have been among the teens swishing and swirling across the ice.

The Chicago “bean,” actually named Cloud Gate, is so reflective it nearly disappears from some angles.

My city would have become their city. But, that is not how our story unfolded. They skate — in a city that is their own.

And, that is OK.

That moment of deep peace with where we are — spiritually, locationally and in every other way somehow meshed with our first look at the Chicago “bean.” This simple-yet-divine sculpture, technically named Cloud Gate, was not there the last time I visited the city.

That’s me — dead center in the blue coat — surrounded by the reflection of strangers whose paths briefly crossed mine. Still visible for now… 🙂

I love it. Depending on where one is standing, it can disappear or turn reflections into a kaleidoscope or morph a group of strangers into something more than, well, strangers.

The swirl of experiences and images made me think worthy thoughts. About God. About others. About myself.

Wherever I am, whomever I am with, I hope that I can become so reflective of God’s light and love that whatever is not worthy in me disappears.

Published by JOY journal

After a long career writing for local newspapers — and, on rare occasions, for publications such as The Washington Post — Nora's word life is now focused on blogging and occasional writing projects of special interest. Also the author of several books, Nora lives in Appalachia with her husband and a goodish dog named Finn, who is delighted whenever the family's two adult daughters are home from college.

26 thoughts on “Beautiful from every angle”

    1. I seriously considered calling you while we were there, but our schedule was so tight we cut everything down to a bare agenda. (We didn’t finalize plans for the trip until a couple of days before Christmas…) Next time, I would love to have tea with you! 🙂

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  11. I’ve been there a couple of times, but haven’t walked under it. We’ll be sure to do that. Taking my 12 year old grandson for a surprise birthday trip with his mother too.

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