This shrub is called buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

Long Key Natural Area, Davie Florida, May 9, 2013

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2

My photo walks these past few months had filled me with a deep sense of awe and wonder at the created world. In a 24/7 news cycle life where the wonder of creation is eschewed for lurid tales of the depth of human depravity with some feel-goodness sprinkled in to round things out, these walks are a necessity. They renew me and draw me closer to God and more deeply into the mystery of God's ongoing work. 

Yes, we need to know the full measure of the injustice in the world, the depth of the suffering of its people, the names and faces of all who need our prayer, our strength, our action, lest we do nothing and become the very thing we hate, yet in a small pond today filled with blooming white water lilies dancing in the morning light, God declared once again for me the beauty of a redeemed creation shaped  and formed by God's own hand and given life through God's sacred breath. For this I am ever grateful.

Where have you seen evidence of the wonderful deeds of God this day?

God of all creation,
in your hands you create the wonders of this world
and breath upon them your Holy Spirit that they might live.
We give thanks for the daily reminders of your presence
that they might draw us more deeply into knowing you
and proclaiming you.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.