Walk in the Woods
Abstract: Life Is Good
A poem, after a day of video meetings, and the need for connection and wonder.
Thin screens, regardless of clarity,
will never be humanity.
They cannot replace the love conveyed by presence.
I hope we never become so efficient in the way we live life,
that we stop living life,
and settle for pictures of places we could be,
sniffing the scent of a new landscape,
or the wonder of His Creation.
Go, struggle and dream,
explore and receive,
every ounce of what this life was meant to be.
Abstraction: Sun and Stars
In the sun we do, and under the stars we dream. Always surrounded by His majesty.
What an honor and delight to be alive, to experience the blessing of a universe packed with life and wonder.
She is a consistent reminder of His faithfulness.
Churning and burning for us, she showers us with life and warmth.
Our life an extension of her own. Our ancient sun, the sustainer of life.
As one blessing fades with the day, another is reviled. Glory to Glory.
As one sun hides behind the turn of Earth, a million suns come to play.
They dance and shine, each one a light of the night. In unison, a display of His creative mind.
In the sun we do, and under the stars we dream. Always surrounded by His majesty.
What an honor and delight to be alive, to experience the blessing of a universe packed with life and wonder.
Thank you, Father.
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Daily Journal: #91 Our Natural Conscience
After He declared us good, He commanded us to multiply and fill the Earth. This command is a reflection of Him- to create, share, explore, and move. It is a task to be like Him, God in His natural state, Love creating more room for Love.
LINKS
Tag Archive
- Daily Journal 360
- Poem 239
- Faith 97
- Love 82
- God is Good 48
- DJ 41
- Short 41
- poem 40
- Gratitude 37
- Psalms 35
- love 30
- psalms 30
- Jesus 28
- jesus 25
- Grace 22
- Hope 21
- Goals 20
- Dating 15
- Patience 15
- Writing 15
- 2020 14
- Growth 14
- Trust 14
- Fear 13
- Fight 13
- Art 12
- Process 12
- A 11
- Perseverance 11
- Prayer 11
- faith 11
- selflove 11
- Joy 10
- Motivation 10
- Anxiety 9
- God Is Good 9
- West Virginia 9
- Determination 8
- Favorite Moments 8
- Friendship 8
- Honesty 8
- Miracles 8
- Purpose 8
- Travel 8
- a 8
- dj 8
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- Frustration 7
This morning, I bought coffee and drove twenty minutes north to the dam holding Lake Shasta. Once there I sat in the coolness of the morning and meditated on the landscape around me. Northern California is a rugged beauty. She offers redwood covered mountains, clear rivers and lakes, and infinite blue skies. It’s enough to remind anyone how special our planet is, what a blessing to be alive.
After a few minutes I noticed small birds skimming the lake, hunting for breakfast. My heart grows when birds and forest animals continue to go about their business whenever I am present. It’s like being welcomed into their world instead of seen as an intruder. While I watched the birds search for their morning meal, I wondered if they enjoy the hunt. I hope so. They look like they enjoy it. (I assume the hunt is more fun when not on the edge of starvation, as most activities lose their luster when life is on the line.)
The State of Nature
The more I watched the birds today, the more I thought about how CS Lewis defined nature or what nature is:
[T]he natural is “what springs up, or comes forth, or arrives, or goes on, of its own accord: the given, what is there already: the spontaneous, the unintended, the unsolicited.”
- Miracles
The birds I watched were simply being who they are. They didn’t know or care about who the President is or will be. I presume they could care less about their hunting form or how they smell. After a beat, I expanded my view to include the redwood, ash, and oaks trees on the mountains behind me- each one pushing their branches out and upward toward the sun. Each player in this scene acted the way it was created to be.
The State of Humanity
About the only species on the planet who acts beneath its nature are humans. The gift of our consciousness comes with the burden of knowing how to hurt ourselves and everything around us. Then we create cultures of shared pain. From these platforms we justify all manner of destruction and war: greed, brutality, hatred, murder, and excess.
Only a culture suffering the effects of ill defined freedom could see a child as a choice and parenthood as bondage. Family is our natural state, the thing we gravitate toward in the absence of jaded influences. Only a culture heralding rugged-individualism could justify mountains of greed and systems of brutality in the name of “law and order.” The fact we believe in lack, tribes, and acceptable violence is evidence we are using our God given conscience to live beneath our calling and potential.
Our State of Origin
In Genesis 1 we read about the original intent of our species, to be the ultimate reflection and beneficiary of the Father’s love.
God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.
Genesis 1:28-31 NABRE
We are good. That is our original nature. He made us in His image and called us good. We are the final and great work of art on this amazing planet. What He gave to us above all else was and ability to perceive, create, and love beyond anything else in our solar system.
After He declared us good, He commanded us to multiply and fill the Earth. This command is a reflection of Him- to create, share, explore, and move. It is a task to be like Him, God in His natural state, Love creating more room for Love.
Our natural state is one in which we trust the Lord to supply our needs, not our jobs or the government. Our natural state is one in which we create solutions for our needs and works of art for the heart. Our natural state is one in which we consider the risks of love, rebuke fear, and decide to love anyway- knowing we might get crushed (He is the God of redemption and resurrection after all.) Our natural state is one in which truth is not devoid of compassion, and repentance partners with kindness and grace.
Though we come from the same dust, we are not animals or plants. We are something else. God knew we would use our ability to choose to fall away from what we were, to live beneath our callings. It’s ok. He also created the path back to the original state. And that’s path’s name is Jesus. The fullest and best life we can live is in constant communion with Him. Everyday. Some days will be better than others, but all of them will be worth living.
Thank you Lord for this day. Thank you for the ability to see your Glory in the creation around me, and in me. I ask for your Glory and purpose to be revealed in all my brothers and sisters in Redding, in California, the United States, and all the world. I reject and rebuke the lies standing between You and our hearts, You and our ears, You and our ability to love.
A-men.