Now that is a title I never thought I'd write. A trip to Iceland wasn't on my bucket list but it sure was on my Earth Science/Geology major husband 's. Seeing geothermal bubbly mudholes, geyers, waterfalls on a background that looked like we were on the moon was quite an experience. But getting away to see more of God's creation is always beyond awe for me, and always causes me to want to capture my thoughts on paper. Why is it I'm always moved to write when I'm on vacation? Could it be I have a chance to empty my mind from the busyness of life - of appointments, laundry, email and cooking that even in retired life seem to overwhelm my thoughts? Could it be on vacation I actually get still enough to look beyond the mundane to the beauty of the world around me? That I actually have some thoughts worth capturing?
This morning, on a misty day in Iceland where weather did not permit excursions, I am blessed with an empty day on a cruise ship. Life could be worse! We started the day with a visual presentation of auroras in the ship's domed planetartium. The accompanying narration included words of the photographer that made me take pause: " I'm awestruck gazing at a celestial dome of kaliedoscopic color floating across the sky, with the red light becoming visible that is always there but the naked eye does not see."
My mind went immediately to THE LIGHT, the Light that is always there but that we don't always see. We do not take time to wait for it and seek it, as this photographer did over months of late night journeys in frigid temperatures to dark areas on the remotest places of the earth. Do we take anything like that effort to see THE LIGHT? I watch for it during Sunday morning services and during quiet times that I steal away for in the mornings. But do I take the time that it takes to really see?
Do we take thse measures to study, seek, wait and steal away to find the God we profess to believe in - the God who has promised to be with us always?
And, do we really believe He will come again in glory? He has said He will come in the clouds bringing down the New Earth. His coming will be arrayed therefore in the colors described in Revelations 21. Those verses are clear, non-debatable promises, describing the colors of the auroras that may be giving us but a glimpse of the glory to come: the gold of the streets shining like transparent glass, colors I don't even recognize - chalcedony, sardonyx, chrystite, jacinth, oprase - along with pearl, sapphire, emerald, camelion. Could it be that the new city will come down in an aurora of light such as we've never seen before? Revelation goes on to describe this city as "one that does not need the sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp." And it is a coincidence that the foundation of the city made of jasper, described separately as clear as crystal, is the predominant color of the auroras? Are these but a glimpse of heaven?
We all may not get to see an aurora - we didn't, even on a trip to Iceland. But do we see the other mysteries of the skies and earth, that cause us awe - the stars, the mighty pulse of the ocean, the majesty of waterfalls, the heights of unreachable mountain peaks, the amazing arrays of the dawn and sunsets as glimpses of heaven - gifts from the Creator of them all? The God we sing of on Sundays - is He really the God of all life? Of our life? Do we study, seek, and wait and steal away to find the One we profess to believe in?
Do you?
Do We Believe?
Do we believe?
Or do we sit in a pew
And go through the motions
As if we do?
Do we seek
The One who we sing of,
The One who guides us,
Who we profess to love?
Do we wait,
Knowing He works all to good
When suffering doesn't end
As we think it should?
Do we steal away
To guard our heart, (Proverbs 4:23)
To be still and know (Psalm 46:10)
To come apart...
As He sought His Father?
He stole away
As recorded often
At the beginning of day.
Do we really believe
As we say we do?
Will we really be among
The chosen few?
He said He'll separate
The chaff from wheat.
Will we earn a place
To sit at His feet?
Will He say He knew us?
Or did we just know OF Him
Without opening our hearts
To let Him in...
The place where the fruit of the spirit
Can grow.
Where patience and gentleness
Come from the flow.
Or are our hearts, those He spoke of
As the rocky ground (Mark 4)
Where anger and selfishness
Are more often found?
Do we believe?
Do we live as we do?
Do we have ears to hear
What He wants us do?
Do we?
