Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
God bless the whole world...no exceptions
Colorado- I am obsessed.
Mountains so steady in the distance you forget they are real, cool crisp air at night and in the mornings, sunshine that only elevates the steady dose of endorphins the people around here have on a daily basis.
I have been here about three weeks now, but it feels a lot longer. New roommates, new classes, a new town, new hobbies, a new culture...I am a sponge. Soaking it all in.
On my run through Littleton the other day I saw a silver Subaru (that is the cool car around these parts-who knew?) with "God bless the whole world...no exceptions" as a simply-stated bumper sticker. It made me laugh a little; so Colorado.
If you have ever had the chance to climb a mountain, to see a view, to exit the world of the daily, small things you can touch and see and enter a perspective from far above, I think you may be able to understand the Colorado culture a little more. And, as I am thinking about it, on perhaps a different note, may be able to understand God a little more too.
From what I have seen so far, people in Colorado are just a little more aware of life, of the world that they live in. I mean, living up here, we should be more aware of it because it is in our faces so much. That bumper sticker I think describes the culture up here. People are aware and in awe of the great big world around them
A couple of weeks ago I got to go "adventure" to Estes Park with one of my best friends for a couple of days. I think my favorite memories were our two trips up Trail Ridge Road. The first one was on a rainy afternoon. I set out slowly up the mountain, ready for breathtaking views along the way. Because of the rain, I ended up driving slowly up the side of a mountain, even closer to the wheel than before, using the ten foot of road I could see in front of me to guide us slowly up to 12000 feet above sea level. I have never been so aware of how risky one wrong move could be. Few views were even visible in the weather, and I wouldn't have noticed them anyways because I was so focused on what was in front of me.
The way down was an entirely different story. At every turn, there was a more breath-taking view. From up high, the detail of the terrain we are so used to living in was part of a perfect picture, each detail created a perfect scene.
The tour ended with the sighting of a huge rainbow. What does it mean? haha (see Youtube)
The next day, we headed up the mountain at night, on an impulse. Shelby drove. John Meyer provided the soundtrack. Even in the dark, the perspective from above was breath-taking. Crisp, biting air, faint stars attempting to outshine the moon, a low hum of nature below, content in its place.
I feel a need to apologize for the analogy I am about to make. That life is like climbing a mountain and the perspective from the top is so clear. I know it is cheesy, but I really think God made the mountains for that very analogy.
Life is hard-climbing is hard. For some people, it's easier than others. For some it really sucks. Some days there are views around every corner, other days, all you can do is look ten feet in front of you.
And a very humbling thing I am realizing is that some people's entire lives are rainstorms, and it is all they can do to put one foot in front of the other and "trudge" ahead.
I don't think that there is some "peak" of life that we are supposed to be trudging towards. I think it's more like a person. God-at the top of the mountain, looking down at all of us, seeing things from a different perspective than we do, aware of our individual and collective beauty, of the bigger picture despite the struggle.
Some days, I feel like I am at the top of the mountain with Him. Those are the days that life makes sense. That I can feel God's control over the mess that I am, that I can sense His bigger purpose.
Other days, I am trudging. In a book I had to read for class, it described it this way:
"God says, 'follow this cloud'...we have no idea where we are going. We walk by faith not by sight."
Some days we just follow a cloud. I would say most days that is the case.
The cool thing is that not only is God at the top of the mountain, able to see the bigger picture, but He is also trudging with us. I am very thankful for that.
During my time here so far in CO, I have never felt so...certain. Certain that I am where I am supposed to be, certain that though the future is just a cloud in front of me, I am following, by God's grace, the right cloud. He is here with me and He is there with you. That is comforting.
And He is blessing the whole world...
no exceptions.
Mountains so steady in the distance you forget they are real, cool crisp air at night and in the mornings, sunshine that only elevates the steady dose of endorphins the people around here have on a daily basis.
I have been here about three weeks now, but it feels a lot longer. New roommates, new classes, a new town, new hobbies, a new culture...I am a sponge. Soaking it all in.
On my run through Littleton the other day I saw a silver Subaru (that is the cool car around these parts-who knew?) with "God bless the whole world...no exceptions" as a simply-stated bumper sticker. It made me laugh a little; so Colorado.
If you have ever had the chance to climb a mountain, to see a view, to exit the world of the daily, small things you can touch and see and enter a perspective from far above, I think you may be able to understand the Colorado culture a little more. And, as I am thinking about it, on perhaps a different note, may be able to understand God a little more too.
From what I have seen so far, people in Colorado are just a little more aware of life, of the world that they live in. I mean, living up here, we should be more aware of it because it is in our faces so much. That bumper sticker I think describes the culture up here. People are aware and in awe of the great big world around them
A couple of weeks ago I got to go "adventure" to Estes Park with one of my best friends for a couple of days. I think my favorite memories were our two trips up Trail Ridge Road. The first one was on a rainy afternoon. I set out slowly up the mountain, ready for breathtaking views along the way. Because of the rain, I ended up driving slowly up the side of a mountain, even closer to the wheel than before, using the ten foot of road I could see in front of me to guide us slowly up to 12000 feet above sea level. I have never been so aware of how risky one wrong move could be. Few views were even visible in the weather, and I wouldn't have noticed them anyways because I was so focused on what was in front of me.
The way down was an entirely different story. At every turn, there was a more breath-taking view. From up high, the detail of the terrain we are so used to living in was part of a perfect picture, each detail created a perfect scene.
The tour ended with the sighting of a huge rainbow. What does it mean? haha (see Youtube)
The next day, we headed up the mountain at night, on an impulse. Shelby drove. John Meyer provided the soundtrack. Even in the dark, the perspective from above was breath-taking. Crisp, biting air, faint stars attempting to outshine the moon, a low hum of nature below, content in its place.
I feel a need to apologize for the analogy I am about to make. That life is like climbing a mountain and the perspective from the top is so clear. I know it is cheesy, but I really think God made the mountains for that very analogy.
Life is hard-climbing is hard. For some people, it's easier than others. For some it really sucks. Some days there are views around every corner, other days, all you can do is look ten feet in front of you.
And a very humbling thing I am realizing is that some people's entire lives are rainstorms, and it is all they can do to put one foot in front of the other and "trudge" ahead.
I don't think that there is some "peak" of life that we are supposed to be trudging towards. I think it's more like a person. God-at the top of the mountain, looking down at all of us, seeing things from a different perspective than we do, aware of our individual and collective beauty, of the bigger picture despite the struggle.
Some days, I feel like I am at the top of the mountain with Him. Those are the days that life makes sense. That I can feel God's control over the mess that I am, that I can sense His bigger purpose.
Other days, I am trudging. In a book I had to read for class, it described it this way:
"God says, 'follow this cloud'...we have no idea where we are going. We walk by faith not by sight."
Some days we just follow a cloud. I would say most days that is the case.
The cool thing is that not only is God at the top of the mountain, able to see the bigger picture, but He is also trudging with us. I am very thankful for that.
During my time here so far in CO, I have never felt so...certain. Certain that I am where I am supposed to be, certain that though the future is just a cloud in front of me, I am following, by God's grace, the right cloud. He is here with me and He is there with you. That is comforting.
And He is blessing the whole world...
no exceptions.
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