Sometimes you have to travel in order to find healing new perspectives. In our work-a-day routines, God can sometimes slip our minds. In the tumultuous seas of politics, it can sometimes feel like God has abandoned us. We often get caught up in what feels like a race against time. Sometimes it\u2019s good to be reminded that, in that race, time always wins. I am writing this from my hotel room in Seattle. My family has been on a two week journey into the Pacific Northwest. We began last week in San Francisco and have slowly meandered our way North. Along our way, we\u2019ve often unplugged from the trappings of modern civilization and just experienced God\u2019s creation. It\u2019s comforting to know that there are still vast areas of this country where cell phones are useless. It\u2019s times like these when we are forced to focus on what is real, what is important, and what time really means. After visiting some of the most awe-inspiring places in the world, I\u2019ve become acutely aware of how insignificant my little span on earth is in relation to God\u2019s timeless creation. I tried to capture my feelings in a poem. I will share that poem below and then follow up by expanding on my thoughts and reflections.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYosemite Rain\u201d<\/strong>
\nTime cannot be understood<\/em>
\nBy this simple-minded man<\/em>
\nI\u2019m just a ring within the wood<\/em>
\nHere and gone in a short span<\/em><\/p>\nBut time is robbed of all its sting<\/em>
\nWithin Sequoia glens<\/em>
\nFor now it doesn\u2019t mean a thing<\/em>
\nIt\u2019s just as long as it has been<\/em><\/p>\nThe bluest eyes I ever saw<\/em>
\nWere born of violent pain<\/em>
\nAnd my tears begin to fall<\/em>
\nLike cold Yosemite Rain<\/em><\/p>\nGreat monoliths of gleaming white<\/em>
\nAre new upon the scene<\/em>
\nHeaved and birthed by seismic might<\/em>
\nAs if they\u2019d always been<\/em><\/p>\nSymbolic of the change of course<\/em>
\nPlotted centuries ago<\/em>
\nBy a hellish, seething force<\/em>
\nFar beneath the tranquil snow<\/em><\/p>\nThe bluest eyes I ever saw<\/em>
\nWere born of violent pain<\/em>
\nAnd my tears begin to fall<\/em>
\nLike cold Yosemite Rain<\/em><\/p>\nGazing over this expanse<\/em>
\nSurely puts you in your place<\/em>
\nWe only get a single chance<\/em>
\nLife\u2019s a journey, not a race<\/em><\/p>\nThe bluest eyes I ever saw<\/em>
\nWere born of violent pain<\/em>
\nAnd my tears begin to fall<\/em>
\nLike cold Yosemite Rain<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The imagery in my poem is a blend of several of the places we have visited. Each of these places\u2013which include three National Parks, Yosemite, Crater Lake, and Lassen Volcanic\u2013put me in touch with God and gave me an appreciation for the natural processes used to create the beauty that surrounds us. These places also put the concept of time into clearer perspective in a dichotomous way. On one hand, these places make time harder to understand\u2026particularly in a literal biblical interpretation of time. For instance, it is impossible for a reasonable person to visit Yosemite and come away believing that the earth is only 6,000 years old, an idea that some Christians try to sell in order to make the creation story in Genesis a literal 7 day period. All that mindset accomplishes is setting up a huge roadblock to detour people from the faith. There are Sequoia trees in Yosemite that have been standing for over 3,000 years and there are fallen monarchs that have been lying on the forest floor, \u00a0yet to decay, that were standing for many centuries before today\u2019s giants were even sprouts. The Yosemite Valley was carved out over hundreds of thousands of years of glacial erosion. Time loses its meaning when you stand and take in these sights. On the other hand, these places make it easier to give up trying to figure time out and just accept it as is.<\/p>\n
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Crater Lake is another marvelous example of how God created a majestic place by using violent forces deep within the earth. Many thousands of years ago, there was a great towering mountain where the lake is today. Through one the most explosive seismic events ever seen on this continent, that volcano erupted and collapsed in upon itself, leaving a deep hole 5 miles by 6 miles in width. Over the course of millennia, a lake began to fill that hole. The only sources of water feeding that lake are snowmelt and rain. It is now the deepest lake in America, almost 2,000 feet deep. It also contains the clearest and purest water on earth, creating the bluest blue you\u2019ve ever seen. Twenty-four hour days mean nothing to God.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/777\/2019\/06\/CraterLake.jpg\")
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Along the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, we found unfathomable beauty around every turn. The vastness of the Pacific Ocean puts you in your place. There is still so much out there we know nothing about. We took a whale-watching excursion out into the Monterey Bay. Our guide told us that they are discovering new species of life in the deep trench just off the coast every year. Never before seen life living just a handful of miles from our \u201cgreat civilization\u201d. It makes the mind reel, as do the enormous whales swimming in those waters. We got to see close to a dozen Humpback Whales up close and personal. We got so close that, at one point, a whale surfaced just out from our boat and the mist of his breath emitting from the blowhole wafted over us. We smelled a strong, foul odor of rotted fish. Our guide told us that was the whale\u2019s breath we were smelling. That was an incredibly humbling moment that I\u2019ll never forget. The diversity of God\u2019s creation is truly astounding.<\/p>\n
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For the past 10 days or so, I haven\u2019t paid any attention to Trump, politics, or the news in general. I haven\u2019t thought much about religion either, but I\u2019ve thought an awful lot about God. I traveled 2,500 miles from home and found him in abundance out here. It\u2019s been very good for my soul. It\u2019s put a lot of things into perspective for me, most importantly, it\u2019s put me in perspective. I have come to appreciate time for what it is. I have come to understand that life is not a race. Life is a journey. God made a wondrous place for us to roam during our short time here. It has become far too easy to lose sight of that.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometimes you have to travel in order to find healing new perspectives. In our work-a-day routines, God can sometimes slip our minds. In the tumultuous seas of politics, it can sometimes feel like God has abandoned us. We often get caught up in what feels like a race against time. Sometimes it\u2019s good to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3002,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,16,19,28,29,463,58,80,92],"tags":[1290,1299,1293,1296,1287],"class_list":["post-6657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-conservation","category-creationism","category-environmental","category-evolution","category-faith","category-multiple-perspectives","category-social-commentary","category-young-earth","tag-big-sur","tag-crater-lake","tag-monterey","tag-whale-watching","tag-yosemite"],"yoast_head":"\n
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