Montana is beginning to look a lot more like Oregon. It has been overcast for the last week. I guess it has rained a little (I was out of the area when it happened), but mostly the clouds just sit there. Since the snow has all melted, the seeds have been--or are being--planted, and the sun has had some opportunity to break through there is now a good deal of actual green in the area. This is not the kind of green that would only be called such by people who look at fields of brown and yellow every day of their lives. I am talking about actual, bright, photosynthesizing green. It's mostly in the grassy lawns and on the wild edges of the brown and tan fields. I must say that the green does my heart good. Never have I appreciated green more than I do now. Six months of white was incredible and beautiful, but green is a precious commodity, and I am blessed by it.
God has given us such a diverse world. Even in the relatively short distance between western Oregon and eastern Montana the climate, atmosphere, flora, fauna, culture, and lifestyles are just different enough to feel like they are worlds apart. Yet these are only two locations on a planet containing myriad of other climates, plants, animals, and cultures. In each of those locations there are distinct changes brought about by the various seasons. There are a multitude of beautiful scenes, and there are countless dangers. Somewhere on this planet there are tribes that worry themselves with issues that we would never even consider because those challenges could not even occur in our neck of the woods.
What a magnificent world God has created for us. It is a world where we can appreciate so much beauty, but must also remain humble in our inability to manage and control the dangers. This is not a safe planet. Countless lives have been lost in the reality that we are not in control here. Here we have hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, fires, avalanches, deadly animals and insects, diseases, mental illness, poverty, malice, racism, classism, sexism, war, murder, theft, gossip, slander, jealousy, drunkenness, drug addiction, suicide, self-deprivation, over indulgence, fear, pain, sorrow, and death. This is not a safe world, and we are not in control. I am humbled by this truth.
There is one who is in control. Although he may not be safe by the standards of the world, he is good. He is present in the midst of the beauty and the storm. His majesty and power are seen in the beauty and grandeur of creation, and his presence and peace can be found in the torments of the world. Elijah heard him as a still small voice. Job heard him speaking out of the storm. Our Lord slept in the middle of a raging sea, and walked not on calm waters but in the middle of rushing winds and crashing waves.
I thank God for his wonderful creation; that it would remind me of his glory, creativity, and beauty; that it would humble me and remind me that he is God and I am not; that it would remind me that he is always there for me.
