and it was good

back in the day when we went to church of wrigleyville, there was a period with a lot of emphasis on worship and the different ways in which we can spend quality time with our savior. on one particular sunday they cancelled the message portion of the service and encouraged people to go out and experience worship by examining God's creation with a fresh eye. they suggested that we view elements of nature as if it were brand new and to imagine God creating it for the purpose of bringing us joy (because that was His intent).

i can remember leaving the sanctuary on addison st. and walking out into the great big world, hand in hand with my husband. i loved the idea of this exercise and found it to be such a refreshing departure from the church experiences i have known in the past. i was eager to accomplish the goal. together, we walked and we prayed and mostly we just tried to take in the full experience.

much to my disappointment, i found this experience to be incredibly difficult. as hard as i tried to force it, it just wasn't happening for me. on that day, i came face to face with an interesting and somewhat embarrassing truth. i do not experience God through nature.

in that series i learned that there are lots of ways i DO experience God (i primarily see God through people), but it troubled me that i couldn't really EXPERIENCE Him in nature.

years passed and i sort of compartmentalized that truth. i didn't pull it out of its compartment very often, but from time to time it would surface.

years passed... and then i moved here.

suddenly, i found that everywhere i turned i was seeing God in beautiful and new ways, with nature at the forefront.

i think the moral of the story (for me, at least) is that it is ok (or in fact preferable) to not feel things at certain times. this is a real truth for many of us. we are each created differently (thank you, Jesus), so we will each process and react to things differently. and if we are patient and keep persevering, God will reveal His truths to us in His time.

i think chicago is one of the most beautiful places on earth. there is nothing like taking in the waters of lake michigan as you drive down the lakeshore. it took my breath away the first time i saw it as it did on my last day before moving to san francisco. but for me, it wasn't a worship experience. it did not make me to connect with God. but apparently, the views of the mountains that surround me in my new corner of the earth do. i step out onto the sidewalk in front of my house and glance at the mountains that climb up out of the earth and SEE that God is amazing. i am now able to delight in His handiwork and, for the first time, can delight in the gift given to me by my Father in His creation of earth.

it brings new meaning to the words written in genesis as God completed each day of creation, "and God saw that it was good".