"It was incomparably beautiful. The potholes streamed with glass-black water and the magnolia trees bowed their heads. So far as I could tell, no one saw that street in that moment, curtained with that gray rain, but me. And I thought what a strange waste of beauty is made everywhere in the world, what an enormous outlay of irreplaceable landscapes is spread out almost carelessly for anyone that happens to pass by. Galaxy on galaxy unseen by any eyes we know of."
I am always amazed that people don't look really LOOK at what an amazing magical world God has given us. Trees, here you have this thing that shoots out of the ground goes up several hundred feet, covered with this Green Stuff. For that matter God thought up Green.
Stay in touch with your inner 5 year old. Makes the world a much more interesting place.
“And I thought what a strange waste of beauty is made everywhere in the world, what an enormous outlay of irreplaceable landscapes is spread out almost carelessly for anyone that happens to pass by.”
I often have the same thought—trees, flowers, birds, even insects (some insects). They are there just for the looking.
We called them see-me-nots as a kid. As long as I don’t see ‘em, I won’t worry about them. If I do see ‘em, I can avoid them. They don’t break off the pack and charge at you like a skeeter. They get a pass from me. ☺️
Zee Germans haven't sprayed the mozzys this year, because zee environment or something. The air here is like mozzy soup. I feel like that plane in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade every time I go for a dog walk. Except it's mozzys instead of seagulls.
"But I notice it’s been just as much a conversation about how to hear as how to talk. That probably tells you something."
This ^^^
I have found that one of the most basic communication skills is to listen completely, without placing judgement, but just letting the words come in with their own meaning not yours. It is surprisingly difficult to learn to do. How much more difficult is that to do when the words are not really words at all?
One of my favorite passages concerns Elijah. He was sent to the mountain to wait for the Lord to pass by. The wind, earthquake and fire did not contain the Lord, but then a quiet whispering voice was heard. Elijah then recognized the Lord in that voice. This is how I believe that God communicates with us, and why He is so hard to hear. My “monkey brain” is so busy and noisy, that I have to be engaged almost constantly or it goes off in hundreds of directions. Sitting quietly with nothing else is very difficult for me. Fishing would be a punishment. Contemplative prayer (as are mantras for others), have helped. A rosary allows me to still the “monkey brain” for a bit, but even then things intrude.
If I were Elijah, I probably would have clean missed the murmur. Likely why I was not called into the prophet business. Of course, had I been, I might not have heard…
Beautiful. Description upon description, I would often tell my students. Why is it that Fitzgerald can write 4 pages and not one of the characters actually does anything? We're trying to find God, and more often than not, as you put it so elegantly, we find that He finds us.
I return to John Denver a lot on TNJ. In “Rocky Mountain High,” he wrote of being high (altitude-wise, no matter what the stuffed-shirts said) in the Rockies, experiencing the beauty of nature, REALLY experiencing it for the first time, and just LISTENING to what God has to say. “Talk to God and listen to the casual reply.” Don’t try to sort out the noise of the busy world. Just listen to God, as He whispers through nature.
I know what you mean about those rainstorms. I was staying at a hotel near Gatlinburg, back in the oughts, just looking out at the mountains, when a storm cell came along the valley between the mountain I was on and the next. It seemed so close I could reach out and touch it, but the thunder wasn’t loud at all. The trees on the next mountain blurred for a minute or two, as the cell moved along and the rain fell and, strangely, the rumble of the thunder felt like home. It was a unique and comforting experience. But then, I always did like things that went boom.
Teach us to see and be thankful: GK Chesterton once said” thanks are the highest form of thought, and ... gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”(A short History of England.) May our stories be full of joy and wonder, focused on the life and light of The Redeemer.
Which is even more frustrating that our educational systems are so degraded. I only ever experienced an English class with the “SAT approach” and I hated it. I dreaded the reading assignments. It wasn’t until I found God that I began enjoying reading. But I guess that’s many things in life - does the rainstorm inspire the belief in God, or does the belief in God magnify the rainstorm? If we keep throwing data and “science” (aka the watered-down SAT approach) to explain everything, will we ever be able to expect society to find God?
I don't think it's a waste of beauty. God delights in His creation. This reminds me of something I read in one of C. S. Lewis' books. It stemmed from a discussion about whether a tree in the Oxford Quad would continue to be there if there were no human observers around. In the story, God settles this: "Sirs - I am always about in the quad. And that's why the tree will continue to be, since observed by,
Yrs, faithfully, God." I think this question and answer was written as a rhyme.
P.S. Of course, God also delights in sharing and I am glad you were there for the beauty.
The beauty and wonder of nature. Maybe a variation of the loaves and fishes. God’s remarkable abundance given in love. Sneaked through the back door of our perception like a loving parent with a concealed Christmas gift he knows will bring his child immense joy.
"It was incomparably beautiful. The potholes streamed with glass-black water and the magnolia trees bowed their heads. So far as I could tell, no one saw that street in that moment, curtained with that gray rain, but me. And I thought what a strange waste of beauty is made everywhere in the world, what an enormous outlay of irreplaceable landscapes is spread out almost carelessly for anyone that happens to pass by. Galaxy on galaxy unseen by any eyes we know of."
I am always amazed that people don't look really LOOK at what an amazing magical world God has given us. Trees, here you have this thing that shoots out of the ground goes up several hundred feet, covered with this Green Stuff. For that matter God thought up Green.
Stay in touch with your inner 5 year old. Makes the world a much more interesting place.
“And I thought what a strange waste of beauty is made everywhere in the world, what an enormous outlay of irreplaceable landscapes is spread out almost carelessly for anyone that happens to pass by.”
I often have the same thought—trees, flowers, birds, even insects (some insects). They are there just for the looking.
When I get to Heaven 1st question to God is mosquitoes? Whats with that? :-)
And ticks. Don’t forget ticks! Oh, and fleas! Ack!
Oh my! I was just going to add that! 😂
No see um?
We called them see-me-nots as a kid. As long as I don’t see ‘em, I won’t worry about them. If I do see ‘em, I can avoid them. They don’t break off the pack and charge at you like a skeeter. They get a pass from me. ☺️
Zee Germans haven't sprayed the mozzys this year, because zee environment or something. The air here is like mozzy soup. I feel like that plane in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade every time I go for a dog walk. Except it's mozzys instead of seagulls.
Well, bats eat them, I’ve heard.
"But I notice it’s been just as much a conversation about how to hear as how to talk. That probably tells you something."
This ^^^
I have found that one of the most basic communication skills is to listen completely, without placing judgement, but just letting the words come in with their own meaning not yours. It is surprisingly difficult to learn to do. How much more difficult is that to do when the words are not really words at all?
One of my favorite passages concerns Elijah. He was sent to the mountain to wait for the Lord to pass by. The wind, earthquake and fire did not contain the Lord, but then a quiet whispering voice was heard. Elijah then recognized the Lord in that voice. This is how I believe that God communicates with us, and why He is so hard to hear. My “monkey brain” is so busy and noisy, that I have to be engaged almost constantly or it goes off in hundreds of directions. Sitting quietly with nothing else is very difficult for me. Fishing would be a punishment. Contemplative prayer (as are mantras for others), have helped. A rosary allows me to still the “monkey brain” for a bit, but even then things intrude.
If I were Elijah, I probably would have clean missed the murmur. Likely why I was not called into the prophet business. Of course, had I been, I might not have heard…
Beautiful. Description upon description, I would often tell my students. Why is it that Fitzgerald can write 4 pages and not one of the characters actually does anything? We're trying to find God, and more often than not, as you put it so elegantly, we find that He finds us.
I return to John Denver a lot on TNJ. In “Rocky Mountain High,” he wrote of being high (altitude-wise, no matter what the stuffed-shirts said) in the Rockies, experiencing the beauty of nature, REALLY experiencing it for the first time, and just LISTENING to what God has to say. “Talk to God and listen to the casual reply.” Don’t try to sort out the noise of the busy world. Just listen to God, as He whispers through nature.
I know what you mean about those rainstorms. I was staying at a hotel near Gatlinburg, back in the oughts, just looking out at the mountains, when a storm cell came along the valley between the mountain I was on and the next. It seemed so close I could reach out and touch it, but the thunder wasn’t loud at all. The trees on the next mountain blurred for a minute or two, as the cell moved along and the rain fell and, strangely, the rumble of the thunder felt like home. It was a unique and comforting experience. But then, I always did like things that went boom.
Thank you for letting us eavesdrop on your family dialogue. It is an honor and a pleasure. I'm so glad I discovered your Substack.
Teach us to see and be thankful: GK Chesterton once said” thanks are the highest form of thought, and ... gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”(A short History of England.) May our stories be full of joy and wonder, focused on the life and light of The Redeemer.
Which is even more frustrating that our educational systems are so degraded. I only ever experienced an English class with the “SAT approach” and I hated it. I dreaded the reading assignments. It wasn’t until I found God that I began enjoying reading. But I guess that’s many things in life - does the rainstorm inspire the belief in God, or does the belief in God magnify the rainstorm? If we keep throwing data and “science” (aka the watered-down SAT approach) to explain everything, will we ever be able to expect society to find God?
I don't think it's a waste of beauty. God delights in His creation. This reminds me of something I read in one of C. S. Lewis' books. It stemmed from a discussion about whether a tree in the Oxford Quad would continue to be there if there were no human observers around. In the story, God settles this: "Sirs - I am always about in the quad. And that's why the tree will continue to be, since observed by,
Yrs, faithfully, God." I think this question and answer was written as a rhyme.
P.S. Of course, God also delights in sharing and I am glad you were there for the beauty.
The beauty and wonder of nature. Maybe a variation of the loaves and fishes. God’s remarkable abundance given in love. Sneaked through the back door of our perception like a loving parent with a concealed Christmas gift he knows will bring his child immense joy.