Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Each of us is backlit by divine love.


Each of us is like a wildflower looking toward the camera, which represents those in our lives who are constantly examining us and our actions.  In this situation, when we look at ourselves, we don't see anything special.  And when we gaze in the direction of the world around us, we don't see any evidence of God, the Divine Mystery.  However, when OTHERS look at us through the lens of love, they perceive an amazing thing. Stunned, they see that we are BACKLIT by the Divine Mystery, causing us to glow in all of our ethereal beauty.  From the perspective of the backlit flower, the Sun remains behind it and is therefore invisible. Similarly, we can't see God when we train our inner gaze on anything that we can perceive "in front" of our field of vision.  This is so because God, the Divine Mystery, is more a reality "behind" us that we SINK INTO rather than one who appears in front of our gaze.  However, those who love us can indeed see God when they look at us.  For - unbeknownst to us - we are always and forever backlit by the divine love that dwells on the horizon of Being, and they are amazed.

Photo: Backlit Pasqueflowers proliferate in a meadow burned by one of last summer's fires; Hewlett Gulch, CO; April 26, 2013







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