For many of us computer users, when we first turn on our device, we are met with a random image before we type in our password to go on about our work (or complete and utter waste of time for many instances). We are also given an option to click our approval or disapproval with the picture. In this day in age of needing to be aware of how much personal information we share with whomever on the other end, it may not be the best idea that I take time to share my opinion of the selected visual taking over the initial screen each time. Nevertheless, I do, and Microsoft (or whoever it is) has caught on: I like, I adore, I’m captivated by Creation.
So, last week, this particular one caught my eye a little longer than others. I was mesmerized by it. From professional photographer Rich Jones (© Getty Images), it is of the Langdale Valley, located about 100 miles north of Manchester, England. Over ten thousand acres scattered with several farms and a small town with quaint shops and a hotel sit amidst what Englanders refer to as fells (evidently, from the Old Norse language for mountains).
It’s always interesting to hear from various people over the years how much they forget about the natural beauty that surrounds them. They drive or walk through it on such a regular basis, as often as some of us turn on a technological device, that it’s almost like another screen, another step to go through as they get from A to B and even C to D and beyond amidst our fells of family and work expectations that need fulfilled. Sometimes, we need other amazed children of God to encourage us to stop and really look at what’s around us, to refrain from simply just mindlessly going through the daily routine of living.
After all, there’s quite a bit of beauty out there, and not just on the other side of the pond, but over on this side of whatever fell that emerges in our daily living. And some of them aren’t so intimidating and scary, but quite mesmerizing if we just take a little extra time to pause and take it all in. There’s quite a bit of beauty in the surrounding Creation, our family and friends, and complete strangers, too, as well as within us. For it is there that the most captivating hope and grace resides in Jesus Christ, insisting on setting up shop within the depths of our heart, and never, ever leaving. Thanks be to God, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad