Jim and I just
returned from a trip to Alaska. I’m
still processing the beauty of that wonderful place. Words like huge, splendid, majestic, serene, quiet
and lonely, don’t begin to describe its vast landscape of snow-capped
mountains, covered by Sitka spruce trees standing straight and tall, packed
close, from the shoreline all the way up the mountainsides. Nor could they describe Denali National Park –
surrounded by mountain ranges, all covered in snow – with low valleys of willow
and sparse, skinny black spruce – landscapes that bear, and caribou, moose, and
ptarmigan – call home. It was
breathtaking, making us feel so small in comparison.
Then there
were the whales – a pod of orcas gliding in and out of the water across the
front of our tour boat. And a humpback
soaring as it breached the water, leaving a huge splash in its wake, and harbor
seals resting on the shores of a fjord.
And the
glaciers! You know they’re coming when
the water alongside your ship begins to dot with ice floes. Jim and I had been watching them float by our
side of the ship, unaware of what was just on the other side. We decided to go upstairs to grab some lunch
when there we saw it - Hubbard Glacier – right there, looming ahead of us,
taking us totally by surprise! We had no
idea that it would be so BIG, stretch so far, or be so awe inspiring! A towering ice floe, more than a mile thick, the
height of a twenty five story building. The
only sound that could be heard (apart from the oohs and ahhs of passengers) was
loud, booming, cracking noises caused by shifting ice. Some, who happened to be there at the right
time, were treated to what is called “calving”, when a piece of the glacier
breaks off and falls into the water. We
were in awe.
Always I’m
reminded, in the presence of such majesty, of the One who is the Author of ALL creation.
Israel’s
King David wrote in the Old Testament Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the
glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day, (they) utter speech, and night
unto night reveal knowledge. There is no
speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
If we have
ears to listen, we can hear God speak through what He has made, to reveal Himself
- His power, His love for creativity and uniqueness, His desire that we might
know HIM. Even the silence of a spruce
forest, the serenity of a fjord untouched by humans, miles and miles of quiet
waterways – are designed by Him to draw us closer and cause us to question, “Why
am I here?”.
Then the
Apostle Paul, speaking of Jesus, in his New Testament letter of Colossians,
chapter 1, verses 15, 16a, 17:
He (Jesus) is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are
in heaven and that are on earth. . . All things were created through Him and
for Him.
Paul says
that Jesus, who is the eternal God the Son, was the agent of all that has been
made.
The majesty
of what we saw in Alaska is God’s own majesty, revealed in the splendor and
glory of all He has made.
We didn’t get
to church to worship with our church family the whole two weeks we were gone –
but recognizing God in all He has made – we surely worshipped Him.
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