I am drawn to the woods. There’s something about a deep canopy of trees and a floor of withering leaves and moss that allures me, no, compels me to enter in. Is it the quiet? The rugged beauty? The solace that I find there?
The mysterious life that I see when I take time to be still? To stoop down and pause and just observe?
I identify myself with the beauty-seekers. The God-hunters.
God says that if we look for Him, we’ll find Him, because He’s not far from each one of us.
“…so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-28)
I believe that’s why I often steal away to come here. Because for me, the Maker of my soul is clearly seen here. He’s vivid. He’s real. And He’s oh, so beautiful.
I love beauty. I want to be near it. I want to experience it. I love the way it hushes me. Causes me to stand in awe. Causes me to forget about me. I was made for worship.
And worship comes naturally when I enter this sanctuary where water laps the shore. Grasses rustle in the wind and the sky declares His glory.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2)
Some tell me that there isn’t a God. And if there were a God, then why is there so much pain? I’ve wrestled long and hard.
I’m wrestling still.
Evil and pain are very real problems. I’ve been wounded and it hurts.
I’m hurting still.
There are more wounds to come.
So, I wonder, if there isn’t a God, then how do I make sense of all this pleasure in a world of pain? And where does all the beauty come from?
And the light? The stuff that floods our path and drives out the darkness. That thing that appears every day and is so glorious, if we were to but gaze upon it, it could blind us? Where does all the light and all the beauty come from?
Perhaps there is a Source. A Source that can be known.
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8: 12)
If the Light of the world is really who He says He is, and if I really believe He is who He says He is…then that changes everything.
It changes the way I see.
And I believe Him.
“For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light do we see light.”
(Psalm 36:9)
________________
