Holy Moments – Day 4 – French Apple Orchard

Do you have a favorite photo of yourself? Most people probably do, though they might be hesitant to admit it.

I happen to like this one of me. Note that you can’t see my face and I’m kind of far away. The fact that I’m in focus without being large and loud is what I like about it. It is well-suited to my personality. And of course I’m guessing here…but I think this is how I’m viewed by the One who truly sees me best. All in focus. But in proper perspective. Small.

A girlfriend of mine took this shot in October 1992 in an apple orchard in Roussillon, France, near the Abbey of St. Martin de Canigou. If you’re ever in that area and are feeling athletic, you too should trek up the mountain to see this majestic abbey built into the cliffs. My photos don’t do the abbey justice, so check out my link to the website or visit Wikipedia to get a sample of the Middle Age architecture we were there to see.

But the special moment of that day for me was holding the apple in the orchard. Surrounded by hush, I was unaware my friend was snapping the shutter several yards away. And the fruit itself captivated me. It was a pretty green – somewhere between pear, lime, and chartreuse – and it was pitted and imperfect, but still a gorgeous shape, and edible. Though I didn’t know why at the time, just looking at it, thinking about how it had grown from the tree next to me, holding it and rolling it around in my hand, all of this – was calming. A balm to my spirit.

When I’m open to wonder, when I allow myself to be amazed like a child, I can see that sitting in the presence of His creation is sitting in holiness.

For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  – Colossians 1: 16-17