The sun fades quietly on this early winter day, without even a hint of color. As if a painter’s rag, soaked in turpentine, wiped away the landscape, leaving only streaks of ghostly grey. The deepest dark of a moonless winter night settles over everything and seeps into the minds of the weary. The hours drag until midnight, when the cold silence of falling snow muffles every sound except the slow, deep breaths of the slumbering. Early morning wind rattles brittle window panes, curtaining them in frosted lace; a delicate touch in the preparations for the unveiling. The first light glitters and gleams to reveal a skiff of diamond chips scattered across the desert floor and then lightly, sprinkled like sweet sugar over the Sage-Brush and the gnarled Cedar. The beloved, La Plata’s towering above the mesas and hills, true to their name, glow as polished silver. Then turn neon rose, as they mirror the sunrise, in celebration of this wonderful new masterpiece. Created while the high desert peacefully, snored through the transformation of a dreary day, wiped away, and reworked; leaving a dazzling bright landscape in its place. A special gift meant to fill even ancient hearts with child-like awe and wonder. Yes! The desert can bloom in winter, as an unexpected rose sometimes, does in some sheltered corner of the garden; when the only One capable of creating something from nothing, retouches it and by His mighty Spirit breathes new life and beauty into that which appears dried grey. A cacophony of praise breaks out in admiration, grateful singing of the winter birds! Will those created in the Master’s image also, give Him praise? Or will they turn away from the miracle, this precious gift made out of Love; and with jaded hearts deny this living masterpiece that each of us is part of? If you doubt the reality of God, look closely in the mirror, then look beyond yourself, and all around you; can’t you see what God has done? The grandeur of nature and the magnificence of the universe is a powerful reveal of the Mighty Hand that brought them into being!