As I am watching the scenery pass by my train window upon leaving Kamloops, British Columbia I am truly amazed at the regal nature that God has given us, if we take the time to really look to appreciate it. Smooth-as-glass lakes sometimes appear as perfect ice skating rinks. These glacial lakes are fed by rivers that are, many times, torrents of water propelled by the snow melts from the mountains.
The wonder of the rapids of the river and the smoothness of the lakes never ceases to amaze me. I was born and raised as an inner-city denizen whose experience with nature was the urban rat; not a regal animal. Even when moved to the suburbs in my early teens, I rarely, if ever, really experienced the beauty of God’s pristine valleys and highlands.
My wife and I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this summer and decided to celebrate it early by flying to Alaska for a cruise, then enjoy a ten-day train ride through the Canadian Rockies. This is a 23- day forced relaxation for both of us, a most unusual event. We have never taken a vacation longer than a week, usually only a three-day getaway.
My passion has always been to photograph the birds and jets that pass by our hotel patio at Virginia Beach, or the birds, deer and sheep in our rare visits to Skyline Drive in Virginia.
I am always most satisfied with these minor pauses in our daily routines, routines that are not full-time jobs, but full-time volunteer assignments for my wife and part-time teaching and full-time spiritually shared prayer with my fellow congregants. This 23-day tour of Alaska and Canada has convinced me that by not taking the time to appreciate the beauty of God’s Earth, I am short-changing myself by working at my chosen trades so much that I do not take the time to both appreciate and glorify the grandness of God’s world.
I am disappointed and appalled at the lack of compassion for the Earth that our political leaders have. Mankind has been raping the Earth of its natural wonder with little regard for future generations. Small mindedness and lack of foresight leads us down the path of assured final destruction, due to a lack of all natural or man-made necessities, such as food and clothing. We are all concerned with the life of our grandchildren, but how many of us are truly concerned with the life of our grandchildren’s grandchildren? We will never know them, so why must we think if them? Who cares . . . but, who should care?
That is a very difficult question to ask. All too often we take the stand that basically goes like this: “I have worked all my life and it is time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.” I agree; but let’s not destroy what we have without concern for our future generations. We do not have to consume it all. We do not have to ignore expanded technology that will alleviate our passion of destroying or raping Earth.
Meditating to Heal 