View of the Lake

Our family spent last week at a cottage on the south shore of Lake Ontario.  The majesty of the Great Lakes has always grabbed my attention—they command respect the way a run-of-the-mill lake can’t match.  This time it was especially the range of moods that got to me:  dark, ominous waters under heavy thunderclouds; horizon glowing with sunset rays; calm and quiet; wavy and roaring; bright blue; and a faded gray sea merging into clouds with no separation.

How is it the same vista can morph so dramatically?  Could it be that the Master Painter is using his palate of light and wind and water, constantly creating impressions of the many, varying, radiant facets of his character?  “For [God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20).  The Lord uses his artistic flair to reveal himself through nature.

Same is true when you look up:  “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).  Effects have causes; creation has a Creator.  Those constellations didn’t just appear out of nowhere!  As the hymn says, “This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—His hand the wonders wrought.” Nature has God’s fingerprints all over it, and it’s breathtaking!

I really needed a few days sitting in an Adirondack chair looking out over Lake Ontario (and nodding off now and then!).  It was thera­peutic for me amidst these pressured times:  We’re living in the convergence of a pandemic, raging political polarization, social unrest, economic upheaval … and all of it coming at us every second with frantic urgency from one voice after another.  It’s exhausting—and disorienting.  We all need to stop, look away from our screens, and let God reorient our souls toward reality—toward himself.

For which I heartily recommend getting outside, making time to be still, and letting the Lord of the Universe grab your attention afresh!  A favorite for me is sunset watching—actually seeing our flaming orange star dip below the horizon, and then watching the rays of light illuminate the clouds in the most stunning ways.  So, again, I urge you to take it in—and “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).