Concepts of layers are my favorite things to think about and how it relates to God.  The concept, an idea that keeps turning and growing and the layer, one over shadowing the other, bleeding downward and floating upward into adjacent layers, no doubt more than a small fascination on my part.  I used to watch the maple leaves float quietly from the top of the tree, having disjointed themselves at the nubby root of the stem and flutter down to my level, taking with them a sparkle and shine and gleaming ray of sunlight filtering through the forest.  Each leaf another adventure, while I lay with my back warm against the earth before the killing frosts came.  I dreamt and spent my time contemplating nothing more than the leaf, the tree and the sun and who made such a beautiful thing for me to see. 

Now I study other layers and relationships and enjoy everything I learn.  I was recently fascinated with the luminescence of certain species of squid and jellyfish deep under the sea that talk to one another in pulsing light generated from their own bodies in a sightless world.  This I learned from a television documentary, having rarely placed more than a big toe into the ocean and never having gone under except to swim!  God sees in these same layers of light and sound and radiant warmth.  Not pretending to know what he sees or how he manages it, I love to contemplate on the magnitude of what he has placed here and how it is organize.

How about the things we all learn from space exploration and telescopes that measure the thinnest layer of light?  God is the universe, he created it and moved on to be a part of everything that remains in it.  When we see the constellations and clusters and get the explanations of black holes and solar systems, what starts with physics and ends with the concepts so vast and complicated that only one God could have dreamt such a deep dream of life and promise and relationships so unique and intricate! Layers swirling and twirling and binding and tugging on each other matter most to me.  The family unit, the church and spirit, lost love and sorrow, all necessary in our personal layers one with each other.  We can perceive the variations of color of a single leaf in the fall and see the ray of sunshine upon a baby's face.  We learn and grow and sleep and dream about each other and about our concept of ourselves and God.  What matters most is how we act in our beliefs, how we show our compassion for the people and creatures around us.  If we share our dreams and count our blessings, we can be happy with God.

Take the time to contemplate the layers around us both in the physical world and the spiritual needs we have with each other.  Doesn't God have a sure fixed vision of everything that is placed upon this earth?   Can't he feel and hear our prayers and thanks even when we don't want the emotion to come out?  He is deep inside our souls and in every living creature.  He is the connection, the fusion, the stuff of life that binds us.

I like to think sometimes of templates, each of a different thing.  I think of these templates as a score or count or picture of that item, having been extracted from the other things around it.  These templates are each a slate of nature that God has created in an instant to see the status of the earth and the conditions we have maintained for ourselves.  For instance, in my mind, I see the template for a physical item as electrical wires and the wooden poles to support them.  Knowing God discerns the difference in the metal threads within the rubber wrapped wire and the wooden pole having been a living tree at one time.  He knows in an instant the cure and temperature and grade of the rubber, he knows the exact count of wires used in the line and the age of the tree before it was felled for the project.  He could look upon any landscape and extract a template or snapshot of just these wires and poles and the netted complications of their path and tell you in an instant if a single line were bare or broken, a pole off balance or tethered too tightly, leaning in an incorrect position.

A master planner and ultimate engineer, God has learned from every thought we have given him and the ones we try to hide.  He knows and accepts all things.

The template grows a layer and, in my mind's eye, God has picked every leaf and taken stock of the level of chlorophyll left in the rare and striking colors of fall. Each leaf has started to emit the presence of the deeper shades of red, golden browns and rust, having been hidden for the summer thus far.  He can name and change any one of the leaves, he moves the breezes to make them fall and takes the bugs to scour their surface and names them too!  God takes stock of the land and knows the strength of every branch, the tiny turns of the roots underground and moisture left in the stems.  He takes this snapshot along with others and the count of our lives and balances everything so perfectly.

He watches the child climb the low branches of an apple tree, sees the insects inside the fruit and watches the bird perch upon the topmost cluster of leaves.

He only knows what happiness the child will have and what tragedy in their lives will make them stronger.  He knows and he sees.  We can only dream and lie wanting for it never to end while all the time pursuing our deeper relationship with the masterful engineer who brought us all together on this green earth.  We are waiting everyday to come closer to meeting our needs and the needs of others in the layers we perceive around us.

Let us enjoy the concepts of layers and take stock in our lives for God, improve what we can and give enough to others to bring happiness where shadows lie, a smile where there was none and food to the hungry.