Stay a Little While

 

There should've been a bench in the painting—empty, but not abandoned. It should have been right there under the tree.

So here's the story.... The light falls gently through the branches above, brushing the wood with golden hush. The tree leans slightly, as if listening. The horizon, just beyond, waits in soft silence. No footsteps disturb the soil, yet something stirs.

This is not a scene of absence. It’s a portrait of expectancy.

Maybe someone sat there once, long enough to let stillness teach them something the world couldn’t. Or maybe someone will come—drawn by the hush, the invitation, the space held just for them. Either way, the bench waits without demand. The tree offers shade without urgency. Time pauses, not to punish, but to prepare. That's what the swamp and life around it always meant to me...

We often think action defines life, but sometimes, it’s the moments in between—the breath before the prayer, the silence before the reply—that shape us most.

This painting whispers to me, “Stay a while.”  Be blessed.  wcd