Outside my office window there is a tree.

During the spring and summer, while the leaves are filed with chlorophyll, the leaves are a rich green hue. But something special happens in Fall.

Every year, it glows bright yellow, like the light in one of those dreams where you have to squint.

I’ve only recently befriended this tree. I moved into this office space a little over a year ago, and was grateful for the way it blocked my second-floor view of the parking lot. But one particular day last week, it grabbed my attention and jolted me into a state of appreciation. I hastily walked into my office with a hundred different things on my mind, and as I turned the corner toward the window, it looked as if someone had lit the tree on fire with sunlight.

The hard angle of the November sun blasted through the golden yellow leaves to create an effect in my office that astounded me.

Even in my worst moments of self-absorption, I can look up at that tree and be reminded that God’s creation is full of wonder enough to astonish even the most hard-hearted ones among us, if we take the time to look.

And that’s reason enough to step out of any building, at any given time and breathe in the glory.