sparks and noise

one of my favorite things about china is celebrating the lunar new year. God bless this country where fireworks are legal to purchase..... :)




watching the city of shanghai ablaze with fireworks never ceases to amaze me. the cacophony of explosions is actually music to my ears, and i have to admit, i rather like the smell of gunpowder that lingers in the air long after the fireworks have quieted. i'm thankful for my friends here who always open up their home (which has access to the rooftop of a 22-story building) so we can celebrate and enjoy the scene together. it's not often you can view fireworks from the top down!

watching fireworks from the rooftop of buildings, i wonder if that's how our lives look from the vantage of heaven. each person bumbling around, doing our own thing, trying to make some sparks and noise with our days and years, sometimes feeling so small and detached from everyone else. and yet, altogether, creating the most spectacular patchwork of light and sound, a symphony created to glorify something bigger than our individual efforts.

perhaps the Lord sees our prayers like the fireworks, shooting up in various displays to varying heights, stretching to reach His ear, some exploding half-heartedly midway, others reaching a zenith to reveal a well-constructed blossom. yet none escape His gaze and comprehension.

and perhaps, finally, when the time comes for all sorrow to be made untrue and all wrong to be made right, it will be the praises of a people redeemed, the constant songs and shouts of victory and celebration, a joy that knows no end. and the sparks and noise now are but a shadow of the glory to come.


cups of coffee: 2

mood: content as the kitten napping next to me... :)