A walk along a wooded trail changed the course of my prayer walk. I saw something turquoise.

I didn’t know it was turquoise until I consulted the Crayola color chart, but I knew it was a color that I haven’t ever seen while hiking through a Pennsylvania forest.

After the long, gray weeks of pandemic and isolation, the colors in nature seem more vibrant this year.  I feel like I see new colors among the wildflowers each time I follow a trail into the quiet. I feel like I am discovering new shades of purple and pink, yellow and orange, red and white.

Never turquoise.

But something turquoise was glistening about 10 feet from the trail, and I was drawn to it. I found a hand-painted rock, the size of a tennis ball, sitting on a stump. It carried an encouraging message: “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Micah 6:8 asks us, “What does the Lord require? Do justice … love kindness … walk humbly with your God. “  

Often, as I walk, as I encounter the marvels of Creation, I lift prayers of thanks and praise. I don’t think we give God enough credit for color. He could have created everything in shades of gray, but he knew that color would enhance our experience.

It is nourishing to take time to acknowledge and admire all that God has created and, through prayer, to thank Him for those gifts. I have no problem walk humbly on these excursions.

But as I was photographing the turquoise rock, I began wondering what Jesus would photograph if He walked among us.

Would He be moved by the colors, or the kindnesses?

Suddenly, I didn’t feel very photogenic.  I turned my prayers toward kindness. Lord, show me where I can help? Who can I help? What can I do today? My daily prayers should always include praise and thanks, but I think I need to amplify the petitions for Light onto a path that leads me to help others.

I would love to keep that turquoise rock on my desk, where it could remind me daily to seek places to share kindnesses. But it was a message meant to be shared, so I took some photographs, and left the rock for those who come behind me on the trail.  I’ve shared the photograph with friends, and I intend to have one framed for my desk.

I find it so easy to walk humbly, to see the blessings He has shared in the world He has created. But my prayer focus can’t always be on the Light he has shared with me. I need to look for places where I can reflect the Light, share the gifts, leave a turquoise blessing that touches the next person on the trail.