Nature

Open to wonder….


“We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak, the plans and projects we conceive that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose leaves. The ice on the pond comes and goes. the wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window. We don’t see her. We avoid the cold and the heat. We refrigerate ourselves in the summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake up ever leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish that we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.” Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel

Lord, may I never lose my sense of wonder in the midst of this fast-paced world of endless information, knowledge gathering, and few real answers. All the answers mean nothing unless they point the way to You. The answer to the question is always, You.

“….always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7

Elohim our creator

More highlights of the last two weeks….
Yosemite Falls, 2,425 feet 5th tallest in the world. I hiked this when I was younger. Most memorable moment of hike was when the hat that I had just bought blew off and my heroic Dad was about to reach under the guard-rail and get it, when God stepped in and blew it down the falls!
Psalm 24:1‑2
The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Half Dome, my old friend. Hiked to the top when I was 14, 16 miles round trip, with an elevation gain/loss of 5,131 feet, elevation at the top is over 8,000 feet. The last part is reached only by steel cables….believe me, you need both hands!
Psalm 104: 24,30
How many are your works, O Lord, In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
Houses bordering Yosemite meadow. Many years we have walked by these little houses facing the most beautiful view in the world and thought, who could be blessed enough to live here? This year we were treated to this particular flowering tree we have not yet been able to identify…..
Psalm 96: 12
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.
The mighty Merced River, view from our balcony at Yosemite View Lodge. My folks and my brother generously treated us all to the 2 bedroom suite, what a wonderful gift! The first night, I thought the furnace was running so I got up to check, but it was the noise of the river, even with windows closed you could hear it!
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities‑his eternal power and divine nature‑have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Yosemite is one of those places that is grafted into my soul, having spent so much time there growing up. I encourage you to go if you haven’t been….it is one of those places that you really must see for yourself. To hear the Stellar’s jay call, the sigh of the pines, their tops bending to the wind, the echo of tent pegs being pounded in as camp is set up, all against the backdrop of those wondrous vertical granite cliffs rising straight up off the valley floor….An experience like no other. Thank you for coming along on my journey!

Small Miracles


Thank you, Lord for small miracles. Help me never to take them for granted. Let me not lose the sense of wonder in every day things like watching a sunset or birds singing for no reason, or the calm and stillness of the end of the day; a full moon. Today out in the parking lot at work I heard the call of geese. When I hear that I always stop and look up to see the perfect “V” formation in the sky. In this case there were only two geese calling to each other, but as I watched them fly, each in perfect symmetry, talking their private language, I let them carry me away. Sometimes even far from nature, in our manufactured world of noise, dirt, and buildings, nature breaks in and finds us; seeks to remind us who we are and where we came from. At times like that, I try to pay attention.

Help find little moments to pause in wonder at all you have created……

“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke. By his power he churned up the sea…. By his breath the skies become fair…. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! How then can we understand the thunder of his power?” Job 26:7-9, 11-14

Food for the soul


When we can’t take a few steps away from the back door and sit amongst the trees and hear their whisperings, feel the yield of soft ground underfoot, take some deep healing breaths, we are robbed of something necessary to the very health and sanity of our soul. We must leave this clattering, modern world behind us for at least a few moments a day, though an hour is better. It’s no wonder those of us who dwell in cities are stressed. We can get alone, we can pray, but God knows that sometimes nature is a healer like no other.

We need it to remember who we are, regain our place in the world, the universe. Something in us needs to look up and see mountains towering to the heavens, hear the groan of giant boughs sighing their prayers to God, our own voice joining to it. We need to hear it carried along to the four winds along with our worries. We need to hear the cleansing wash of the ocean’s roar through our soul and feel it rush over our bare feet. We need to learn to fly a kite again.

We need to remember our smallness in this universe and God’s all encompassing greatness, and in the remembering to feel the height, the depth, the love He has for everything in His creation. “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:6
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John Muir