Impressed

Take time to think of all the beauty you have seen as nature shares its treasures. As I review the events of my life and examine the places I’ve visited, I remember how impressed I was with the beauty and majesty of the many unique spots of nature I’ve seen. Vacation tours, naval assignments, and trips with campers and missionaries just added to my visual memory files. As I child, I remember the Atlantic Ocean, its waves, the sunrises, and the beaches of Florida. I visited relatives there and was assigned to Orlando as a naval corpsman. It allowed me to see the beauty over many seasons and the constant changes.

I was able to enjoy the mountains, rivers, and waterfalls of Iceland, as well as its farms, towns, and people of this island nation. Patches of hardened lava and volcanic mountains were so different from the green hills of southwestern Pennsylvania where I was raised.

As chaperone and driver of a camping trip through the western states, my vision of beauty in America was widened. The towers with the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado were intensified by a late night lightning storm. Later, driving on the roadway to Mesa Verde, I was fearful of its winding narrowness. Bryce Canyon with its coral rock spires and dark evergreen tree accents captured my heart. The open sandstone windows of Arches National Park were monochromatic, but the shapes made them beauties that conflicted with the cool green oasis of Green River.

The muted colors, width, and depth of Grand Canyon were impressive with the waters of the Colorado River far below. After church camp, we drove north toward Yellowstone. I was drawn by the majesty of snowy, lofty heights of the Grand Teton Mountains. In the park, the power of Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, river and waterfalls added more images to my precious memories. On the drive home, the huge heads on Mount Rushmore and the Devil’s Tower rose high over my head.

Another time, the drive from Pennsylvania through New England, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, then the ferry ride to Newfoundland and the cruise on the Northern Ranger along the coast of Labrador opened my eyes to the impressive beauty of nature and yet all of this pales when we understand what God tells us. “Eye hath not seen…the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” I Corinthians 2:9