Friday, on the way to work, I figured I would be festive.  I picked up a little shamrock plant at the grocery store and set it in the break room.  There under the florescent lights, I noticed something sad.  The shamrock plant was droopy.  Limp.  Almost had a wilted look about it.  Poor plant of three leaf clovers.  I set it by a window and went about my day.

Today, I felt a lot like that shamrock plant.  Not ill in any real way, just run down.  Out of steam.  Droopy and looking a bit wilted.

The last thing that I wanted to do was leave the house after dinner, but my son had a “confirmation class perfect attendance streak” to maintain and the church offered Wednesday night Lenten services.  Tired and grumpy, I slide into an empty pew with my son.

That’s when something spoke to me.  The words of the hymn were so clear.  “You make beautiful things.  You make beautiful things out of dust.  You make beautiful things.  You make beautiful things out of us.”

Even though I am little more than dust, God has made something truly special out of me.  God makes me a source of light for others.  A light full of beauty to be shared.  I was still tired, but I realized that God makes me beautiful the way God intended, every moment, no matter my mood.  I just need to look for God’s love and light around me.  That’s all I really need to go from dust to beauty in God’s eyes.

As for the shamrock, we came back in on Monday to find it alert and happy.  Full of life, well after Saint Patrick’s Day.  The sunlight had found it on the windowsill and provided it with all of the energy it needed.  Look around, the light is there, let it shine on you.