Creation Calls Out – Hike to Help 2019
My son, Titus, is in Pre-K and we have started a new school adventure in our family. A new found joys for me is taking him to school twice a week. This past Tuesday, we raced out the door, jumped in the truck (already running 5 minutes behind) and sped off. As we approach the top of the hill in our neighborhood, the morning sun exploded through a layer of clouds shooting beams of light in all directions. Titus said, “it looks like a bunch of paths coming out of the sun.” Creation called out and our eyes were open to see it.
How often do we miss creation? Miss seeing the beauty that is right before us? Calling to us.
I am one that loves being in nature. Whether it be skiing on a snow covered mountain, early morning fishing when the water is glass reflecting the sky above, or sitting in a tree stand as the setting sun becomes softer before my eyes. Put me in nature and I am a “happy camper”.
The last few years I have had my nature fill through backpacking. I have participated in several Hike to Helps (and eagerly looking forward to this years), been on multiple Colorado mountain hikes, and starting last year my brother-in-law and I have been section hiking the Ouachita Trail. It is a time for me to slow down, press pause on daily routine and distractions, and be immersed in God’s creation.
On a recent hike, I was contemplating the vastness and intricacy of creation. I had the thought, “how insignificant am I in this enormous space?” I was silently reminded of a scriptural truth; “I am created by the same creator” as scripture exclaims in Psalms 8: 3-5. “When I look to the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”
So as we move closer to Hike to Help I invite you to meditate on a couple thoughts. First, remember that you are created by a loving creator crowned with glory and honor. Our aim should be to see ourselves, family, children, neighbors and even “enemies” as God does. Lovingly created, with a purpose, and meaningful because God has created us that way. And second, open your eyes to the world and beauty around you. Creation calls out, it is up to us to see it.
See you on the trail,
Caleb Brown
