Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
When I saw this dahlia in our garden, I instantly thought it looked as though light purple brushstrokes had been painted across its white petals. You can almost see the streaks left behind, like a paintbrush running low on paint or gliding over a textured surface.
Of course, flowers do not get painted. Their colors and patterns occur naturally.
Or do they?
Perhaps the “brushstrokes” we see were not added after the bloom opened. These remarkable patterns were created long before the flower ever emerged. They were woven into its very design, at the DNA level. No paintbrush touched these petals, yet the brushstrokes are real all the same.
To create the colors, patterns, and structure of this flower, growing from an underground storage root known as a tuber, requires something far more extraordinary than an artist merely waving a brush. This beauty points to the work of a true Master. In this case, the Master.
God delights in His creation, both great and small. He knew the joy that one simple purple-and-white dahlia could bring to another part of His creation – US. He designed these brushstrokes, these patterns, and these colors as a reflection of His creativity and artistry.
I am grateful for the beauty and variety woven throughout the natural world. To me, they reveal glimpses of light even when this world can seem filled with darkness. That light points to the hope of something greater, something better, a paradise yet to come.
I cannot wait to see what our creative Master has prepared for us when we finally arrive Home.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands”
Psalm 19:1