Christmas in Utopia

Fall comes late in Utopia. It arrives around Thanksgiving and hangs out through Christmas. I hope this photo I took gives you a little taste of what it looks like here during the holiday season. 

Not a lot of bustling shoppers and overcrowded stores. Instead you hear the soothing melodic trickle of the creek. Looking up you may catch the glimpse of a brilliant red cardinal. They adorn the tall cypress like Christmas ornaments during their annual winter migration. 

But what I love most of all is the sound of the occasional rustle… the movement of the breath of God. You see it coming. The river willow dances; the red oak’s brittle leaves clap as a few let go and swirl and twirl on their long anticipated journey of freedom; the red cypress shivers sending a gentle snow shower of red needles to the water’s surface below; and then you feel the kiss of an ever so slight breeze upon your cheek. And then the still returns… the quiet… it is priceless.

Merry Christmas. May the peace that envelopes these moments in Utopia be present in your heart this season. And in those times may the awe of Jesus take hold and speak greatness over you on this sacred journey.