blind to wonder

high above Lake Superior, July 2007

So, on this retreat this weekend.......I intentionally scouted out a park that had good hiking trails. I am an outdoorsman through and through-so I fully intended to be out in the outdoors a lot during my thinking time. I hadn't been able to shake this cough though, so, hiking proved to lead to some gasping fits during the 3 mile hike.

I'm usually really good as "seeing" God in nature and the "wonder" of it. But, I admit, not so much during this hike. Which, is why I was so thankful for my buddy who went along-because it came as a surprise to me-he was really tuned into these things.

The ice storm from the day before coated the branches, leaves and grasses which caught the sunlight as we hiked around the lake. It also created a thin layer on top of the snow which provided a solid crunch as we walked along the unbroken snow of the trail. He noted certain trees and shells lying on the bed of a running stream. Geese flying in and out and occassional chirpings of birds all pulled your senses to their heights. This is an amazing world indeed!

Which took me back to my hike along Lake Superior this summer......when I could sit and drink in the wonder of God's creation along the lakeshore. This too reminded me of a passage out of Eldridge's book "Epic" on God's creation and our response to it:

We have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is not normal or scientific in any sense of the word. It is fantastic. It is fairy tale through and through. Really now, elephants? Caterpillars? Snow? At what point did you lose your wonder at it all?

The best possible way to understand how amazing our God is, is to understand how amazing His creation is. I needed someone to direct my attention back to that this weekend. And now, I can't stop thinking about it-and probably moreso the experience on Lake Superior last summer. But, you have to be intentional about planning time for this discovery-it doesn't just happen-well, not until you've made time for it, then it "clicks".