The Great Outdoors

Have you ever been moved emotionally by Nature?

As a youth, don’t think I ever really grasped how beautiful Nature really is. I was a Boy Scout, like many of my friends. As such, I spent a considerable amount of time outdoors camping, fishing, and hiking.

And yet, it was lost on me then. For whatever reason, call it the foolishness of youth I suppose, I never stopped to appreciate my surroundings. My head was always into sports, it was what I really loved, and I just didn’t take in all the natural beauty that surrounded me on all those camping trips.

Now, fast forward to yesterday. I travel some for work, usually day trips. These trips can take me into major metropolitan areas, or, like yesterday, to towns that time has seemingly forgotten. I’d often ventured to the small little town I visited yesterday, and certainly knew of its natural beauty, being surrounded by the mountains. Only, when I drove into the town, with its one major street, and of course, no traffic lights (!), I noticed things a bit more.

As you pull in to this particular town, you are greeted with one of the more spectacular views you’ll ever hope to see. The little town is nestled against the Blue Ridge Mountains, and one cannot help but notice the beauty. I drove up Main Street, and for a minute or two, everything else ceased to exist. Nothing was left save for the beauty of those old wooden houses against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I turned off the radio in my vehicle. It just seemed wholly inappropriate to have any other noise except the “sounds” of that town, and those majestic mountains. A voice inside my head kept telling me to “listen to the land”.

The world was just perfect for that one moment in time. And I knew, once again, that there most certainly is a God in Heaven.

How many times do we all take for granted the natural beauty that is all around us? It costs us nothing to view it, to take it all in. Yet, in the hustle and bustle of our lives, it can be forgotten. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the canvas he’s given us as the backdrop of our life here on Earth. The canvas is Nature, in all its glory, and if we but stop and look and listen awhile, we’ll be enriched beyond measure each time.

I laugh sometimes at the memory of that boy who had his head in baseball statistics, while camping in the midst of absolute splendor. Whoever said, and I paraphrase, “…youth is wasted on the young” was right. Oh well, better late than never I suppose to develop a true appreciation of the natural world. I encourage each of you this week, wherever you may be, to stop and notice the natural surroundings. Even in a city park, in the middle of millions of people, you can find areas of enormous beauty, and peace.

You’ll find God there too. I’ve often thought I see God a lot more clearly in a beautiful sunset, or on top of a mountain peak, than in a church building. I tend to believe its in the outdoors that He does his best work!

-The Minister