I must say from the very beginning, we who resided in Southern
California have no comprehension of how green and lush a trail can be in a climate
where they actually get things like rain and snow. This one attribute bathes the edge of what
would be a ho hum stream in great beauty.
It is in this beauty that I journeyed this trail.
Because I started the trail near the waterfall, it was of
the first places I stopped. This particular waterfall is manmade. In fact, when President Linden b. Johnson
came to visit it during a drought the city turned on all the fire hydrants up stream
to ensure there would be a significant flow of water. They wanted to guarantee that the President
saw it in all its glory. Today the water
was flowing with great vigor and it was beautiful.
After taking in the falls for a few moments, I headed down
stream. The well maintained trail hugged
the bank of the stream which supplied a soothing soundtrack for this hike. The trees provided a cooling canopy of
shade. What a pleasant discovery in my
last hour in the city.
About halfway down the trail there was a large steal bridge
that crossed the small gorge which had been carved out by this stream. It was a single span arch, made with steel
girders that were quite striking. I had
passed several small foot bridges that crossed the river along the way, but
none of them were as splendid as this one.
I attempted to get a decent photo of it with the camera on
my phone, but the only thing the trees would allow was glimpses of the
bridge. The canopy was obscuring the
view. I left the trail to find a better
vantage point, but none was to be found.
Because of the trees I could not photograph the tree in its entirety. This was a disappointment.
Finally I turned and started back down the path. As I walked away from the bridge I had a
thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to cut down some of those trees so you
could capture the bridge in a photograph.”
Almost immediately, I stopped myself and thought, “What are you
thinking? Here you are hiking down this
beautiful trail, made more so by the trees through which it meanders, and
you want to thin them out so you can see a bridge.”
What if I forgot about the bridge, quit thinking about
what I wished I could see and focused on what is right in front of me?
As I began to do this another ran across my mind, “How many other
areas of life do I have the same propensity to look beyond the beauty in front
of me, longing to see what is only a notion in the distance?”
Sometimes I can do this with people. I have had someone standing right in front of
me who is uniquely created by God. They
are His workmanship, a person of beauty, and I can be looking over their
shoulder anticipating the arrival of someone else rather than being present in
the moment.
I can do this with the circumstances of my life. I have a hope for what is coming, an inkling
that there is something beautiful on the horizon, and the preoccupation with
what is to come keeps me from seeing the beauty of what God is doing in the
here and now.
There are times I do this with my own growth. I am so focused on who I desire to become
that I cannot see the beauty of how God has already shaped me. This creates a discontent, rather than gratitude
for what God has already accomplished.
In each of these examples I am focused on something in the
distance that keeps me from fully discovering the beauty of where I find myself
in the present moment.
There have been times when I have been hiking that I have
been so focused on the destination that I have practically run through the
forest. The drive is so strong to get
there that my vision is either focused on an obscured point in the distance, or
on the path at my feet. In the process, I miss the beauty of the woods that are
flying by me. Usually this is because I
am trying to get somewhere by a certain time, or meet some arbitrary goal I
have set for myself. I may meet it, or
get there at the desired moment, but what have I lost along the way?
Scripture tell us our days are ordained, God is faithful to
complete the good work He has begun in us, and that He is sovereign over all
things. This should give us great
freedom to not worry about those things that seem obscure in the present
moment, or which are still some distance away.
It should give us freedom to be able to live in the present moment,
enjoying and discovering the beauty of the here and now.
It is amazing to me how many times we are commanded in
Scripture to wait and to rest, to simply be in the moment where we find
ourselves. We are not to seek to get
there quicker, or cut down trees to gain a better view, but to simply live in
trust that God makes all things beautiful in His time. This kind of trust makes the invitation to
live in the present moment one which we can accept. When we do we will truly see the beauty that
is before us.
Psalms 139:16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Philippians 1:6
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Proverbs 16: 9
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord
establishes his steps.
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