Tag Archives: beauty

Pastoral Ponderings- Travel

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Have you ever noticed how travel helps bring a sense of perspective on life?  Though we never had much, my parents gave me the gift of a love for travel when I was a kid, with our annual pilgrimages to the mountains of North Carolina.  Whether it’s the perspective of miles of endless desert, or strangers offering tea with smiles capable of breaking barriers of language and culture, travel can reorient you to the Divine.

And O the blessings!  If it weren’t for people’s wanderlust in ages past, there’d be a lot of people piled up somewhere in the Horn of Africa or the Fertile Crescent “over there.”  And perhaps worse yet, we’d never have coffee, cinnamon, pepper, sea shanties or fireworks!

Lured by thousands of bats flying out of the ground in the lonely hills of New Mexico in 1898, some other kid named Jim saw huge dark hole in the ground and was fascinated.  His adventures into the endless dark underground across the next 45 years introduced the rest of us to the beauties God crafted over countless millennia now known as Carlsbad Caverns.

I spent some time in Afghanistan on my first deployment, and one time walking around the command post, some Afghans who were doing some work on the post were taking a break.  As I was walking by, they motioned me over, and offered me some tea as a sign of friendship and hospitality.  It’s amazing how simple as hospitality and tea can build bridges across culture and language like nothing else!

The world would be a much more drab place, a much less Holy place if not for the urge to take that first step on our journeys of discovery.  Reflect on your own travels, even if only to the store In Town—how have those travels helped open your eyes to see the Hand of God beyond your ken?  Whether in the Beauty of Creation, or in the beautify souls who have blessed your journey—it’s amazing how the spirit-craft of God’s hand shows up for those who have eyes to see.

From the tiniest crystalline structure visible in the “logs” of the Petrified Forest, to the immeasurable vistas of the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains, the lure of God’s majesty in Creation will ever drive my journeys of discovery—and hopefully, yours too!

–Your Eager Traveling Companion—Pastor Jim

P.S.– don’t forget the concert THIS SUNDAY, March 15, at 5 at Twin Falls (60 N. River Rd., Munroe Falls)– share this note and invite a friend!

Pastoral Ponderings– Morning Fog

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Pastoral Ponderings– Morning Fog

I’ve always loved catching pictures of the morning fog—other than pictures of my favorite people in memorable situations, morning fog pics are among my favorites.  I’ve sometimes wondered what it is about such pictures that I love so much, and it might be how the fog, by how it obscures the background, highlights whatever the focus really is.

I wonder if a morning fog picture can help us better navigate life?  I’m not thinking here of any high-brow understanding of how “art” helps us see what is real, but what the importance of focus is in what we actually notice.  You know how when you’re in a crowded or high-stimulation place—a store, a mall (do people still go to malls?) an airport, a city street—and you’re having a conversation with Someone Truly Important?  There may be a plethora of things going on around you that COULD command your attention (squirrel!), but you’re focused, and can see and actually hear and attend to what is Important.

That seems natural enough—yet how often do we go through life distracted by that which is less important, including pain of whatever sort—rather than focusing on Truth, Beauty and Goodness.  I’ve been reflecting on my dad’s death, now almost 12 years ago, the family gathering around his hospice been, soaking in the love, the laughter, the precious time.  Despite his impending death, it was a Truly Happy and Blessed time.

How could that be?  Because of our focus—perhaps the morning fog was obscuring all that was distracting and inconsequential, so we could focus on the Truth, Goodness and Beauty of the moment.

Thank God for the morning fog, and what it highlights!  Pastor Jim (Philippians 4:8-9)

Pastoral Ponderings- Sculpted Beauty

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Pastoral Ponderings- Sculpted Beauty

Thank you for the chance to get away!  We flew out to CA to spend time with Army kiddo Kaz while there, and Kaz and I hiked the Grand Canyon “rim to rim,” down from the North Rim, up the South Rim route, a total hike of about 23 miles.  I’m ALMOST past the sore muscles and my blisters are almost healed!  We then had other kid and wife come join us for a couple days at DisneyLAND—a first for all of us but Karol.

But the hike was the most amazing part—likely a once-in-a-lifetime thing.  Didn’t get to see much coming up the South Rim—it was dark by then—but the STARS—with no clouds, no light pollution at all—what a sight!  Next morning we did the shuttle bus to see what we could from above the South Rim—which appeared much like you’d expect with the stark beauty of all the layers of rock that God carefully carved over time.  The North Rim, though, was a surprise—I wasn’t expecting the trees and shade!   But they were VERY much appreciated, as the temperature was around 108 when we got to the bottom of the canyon by around 7pm.

I’m always struck by the beauty of God’s artwork in nature.  The Grand Canyon is quite the sculpture, with miles of carving thousands of feet deep, leaving intricate layers and signs of what has come before.  Have you ever noticed that beauty often comes like that in our small lives?  Becoming visible only after the long passage of time, with layers carved away through water, wind and grit, to reveal the beauty beneath.

We marvel at God’s sculpting majesty in the Grand Canyon and the beauty it brings—yet complain with a few scrapes and bruises when God is trying to sculpt His artistry on and through us!  And forget the process taking time as it did with the Grand Canyon—Lord, I want relief NOW, and if I need more patience, bring it quick!  (but NEVER pray for patience—God has a way of answering those kinds of prayers by providing LOTS of practice!)

Might it be possible when WE are going through times of carving, being worn down, that we could change our perspective?  Can we eagerly look for the beauty that God is working to reveal in and through the wearing down process, as we can with the Grand Canyon?  More often than not, we’d rather complain with every scrape, and pray for it to just be over quick!  That canyon wouldn’t even be a creek, let alone even approaching being one of the seven wonders of the natural world if God would have stopped THAT sculpting as quickly as we pray for our little times of being worn down to stop!

Being blessed by God’s crafting hand—Pastor Jim

Pastoral Pondering—Leave Your Mark

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Pastoral Pondering—Leave Your Mark

We recently did a quickie overnight ski trip to Peak-n-Peak just across the NY state line (I highly recommend the place!).  Our room had a loft in it, and the morning before we left, I noticed that some mischievous little rascal had left their mark in a harmless, fun way.  The kiddo had left a little action figure barely visible, keeping watch over the room and the snow on the loft support.  Not obnoxious like graffiti or carved initials, just leaving a littl friend that I hope to see again on our next visit!
 

Whether we intend to or not, we all leave our marks (are we building a theme with last week’s note?)—will we leave them in fun ways, ways that make a positive impact?  I just recently sent off a text, too, to an old friend I hadn’t connected with in years—he much more so, and his daughter ever so briefly as well, had left their little superhero marks on my soul in our past interactions. Their coming to mind out of nowhere led me to reach out again—is it a random firing of neurons in my brain that brought a smile and beautiful memories, or perhaps a nudge from the Holy Spirit?  Nothing lost either way with sending off a quick note.
Little bits at a time of these kinds of positive marks can often build up into something beautiful.  I love seeing the ice stacks when I’m skiing, where, a little bit at a time, the snow makers build up beautiful sculptures of ice along the trails to bring even more joy and beauty to the experience.  Of course, the snow itself on which we ski is the same—little bits at a time that God sends to build up into paths of beauty and joy.
So often in life and in our spiritual journeys, it’s not the big things, but the little things building up like this, that create the beauty, that bring the joy, that touches souls.  What small investments are you making in the lives of those whose paths you cross?

Keep making beauty, bringing truth, goodness and joy—Pastor Jim