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| The train to the top. |
For ever since the
world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God
made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and
divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20
I don’t know why, but when I’m feeling run down and
distant from God, I need to ride. Just get away. So with that in mind, we just
finished putting on over 8,000 miles on my little blue Vibe. Some ride, huh?
On our ride Susie and I went all the way to the top of
Pike’s Peak outside of Colorado Springs. 14,115 ft. Ok, we did not push my
little blue Vibe to the top, we took a train. Not accustomed to such high attitude,
one’s head gets a little light, almost headachy. But from the top of the peak,
you can see so much. And God’s creation becomes so much clearer.
In 1893 a college professor by the name of Katharine Lee
Bates rode from Massachusetts to Colorado Springs in a train, and one day while
on top of Pikes Peak, no doubt feeling a light head and perhaps a dim headache,
a poem came to her. After she returned
down to Colorado Springs, she started writing down the words that had come to
her. And it read fairly much like this:
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| The train at the top. |
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through wilds of
thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!
The words have changed some
through the years, and in 1904 the words were set to the tune of "O
Mother Dear, Jerusalem" by Samuel Ward.
Sometimes it takes a ride to see what God has done. As Paul says, even needing that ride does not
leave me with an excuse. For I should be able to “clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine
nature” no matter where I am and what I am doing. Maybe I need to approach each day as if it is
a ride.
Where are you riding to today? And what can you see?
