It has been awhile since I have written, I know. This summer has really flown by quickly. Here in the northeast, we have enjoyed a summer of mostly low humidity and had only several days above 90 degrees, all of which is unusual for these parts. So time really does fly when you’re having fun, and the mild weather has made it go by almost unnoticed.
I find that summer is also a time when God shows us an even more kindly glance. Nature is in full bloom, temperatures are conducive to outdoor activity, and vacation time comes. My family, for the past number of years, has vacationed on the Atlantic coast of Virginia. It is family-friendly, reasonably priced, and the weather is always cooperative that time of year. We pile our children and my in-laws in our van and drive the 7-hour trip, which has always been a pleasant albeit tiring experience. For me personally, I find the journey just as exciting as the destination. And it is on such a trip that I find myself marveling in the awesomeness of God, both in the things God does himself and in the things and creatures God has made.
Probably nothing is more awesome than the ocean, and nothing makes me feel so insignificant, except perhaps looking down at the planet from an airplane. When I say “insignificant” I don’t in any way mean “meaningless”. Sit at the edge of the ocean and realize how small and weak we are, and how God is infinitely greater than all the power of the entire world’s oceans. Greater than the power of all the world’s oceans, and yet small enough to reside in every human heart. Look what God has given us! And let’s not stop there. I recently watched a video on Facebook that animated the significance of Earth in the context of the solar system, the galaxy and the entire universe. Think about it: Our universe is at least 14 billion light years across, and that’s only the part we know. The universe may be much larger. Let’s see, 14 billion light years. That’s actually 822,989,974,000,000,000,000,000 miles, and yet God is bigger and more powerful than all of the energy contained within the space of those miles!
One of the days of our trip we did some activities in the morning and went to the beach in the afternoon, right in front of our hotel. After an hour, a few raindrops started and we decided to head indoors. From our room we could see the thunderstorm come in, but then the winds changed. The lifeguard stand in front of our hotel was picked up and smashed down to the ground. The next one north of it was picked up and put down several yards closer to the water. Our beach cart on our balcony began to lift up and I pulled it inside quickly. This was our first experience of a tornado, an EF-0 that entered the area several blocks away and spent four minutes traveling up the beach, never actually touching down. Fortunately we were all safe, but several people were taken to hospitals and roofs and cars were damaged (including the roof of the local Catholic school). To my knowledge everyone survived, but it proved a few scary moments. And if this is a 0, what do the folks in Tornado Alley go through with their EF-3s, 4s and 5s? And even so, God is more powerful, yet his power means he can enter our beings with the quietest presence beyond our human imaginings.
Does God give us all these things to keep us from getting bored? Doubtful. God gives us these things as a gift of love. (No, not tornadoes, that’s a discussion for another entry.) Nature is God’s unconditional gift to us. Like every creature, human, animal or plant, God gives us these gifts as an act of divine love. Every relationship we have is an act of divine love working in and through us. Every loving relationship is a reflection of the perfect relationship that is the Holy Trinity, God Three-in-One.
More reflection to follow. Be safe!
