Beyond Words

(Reading time 2 mins.)

 

   Unless I am comfortable with someone, subjects of politics and religion are avoided. FaceBook and social media postings do not influence my leanings, nor mine yours. Doing so alienates half your contacts, but in the interest of free speech, have at it.

 

   There's a big difference between religion and spirituality. I try to keep an open mind on specific church labels and I respect yours. The only faiths I find objectionable are those whose edict is "convert or die" and that radical approach reaches into varied denominations and cultures.

 

   I've participated in several religions and have witnessed improved citizens, spouses, parents and neighbors. I admire a host of clergy members and church activists. I've been blessed by associations with LDS bishops, Catholic priests, Christian ministers and those practicing relaxed Judaism. The only Buddhist I know is a relative, a Buddhist nun, who has more peace and serenity than anyone I know.

 

   Having written this disclaimer, this blog is about my individual spirituality. It is open-ended and not intended to alter your providential direction, though I hope you have or will find one. I've felt the presence of a Higher Power in churches, in sensitive interactions with individuals and in recovery meetings and discussion. I've learned not to expect enlightenment, but to treasure it. When I am touched, I do my best to absorb the impact and give thanks to the God of my understanding.

 

   Nowhere is this more powerful for me than in nature. Ever since childhood I've found solace out-of-doors and near animals of the wild. Whether on the Midwest prairies, Minnesota lakes, Colorado rivers, peaks of Montana or the Washington coastline, my God is out there. Easily distracted, I do better far from crowds, media and the latest technology. That is not to say I don't sense our maker in your presence, home or building, but it is best when I am alone with God. That attraction pushes me out the door and into Mother Nature.

 

   After some six decades of occasionally encountering and appreciating spiritual connections in nature, I thought I had seen and felt all there was to offer. I wasn't tired or bored, just not expecting to be zapped the way I was recently in southern Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park on a clear, crisp day in early spring. 

 

   My wife and I have been on a number of the Park's impressive trails, but on this day the Fairyland Loop took my breath away. The eight-mile round trip jaunt is labeled strenuous with an elevation gain of 2,300 ft. (also breath-taking). The myriad of earth's colors and shapes was mind-boggling, a bright sun spotlighting the snow-dusted hoodoos beneath a brilliant blue sky. We struggled to find the best descriptive words. There were none.

 

   My wish is that you might also find a place in the presence of your Higher Power. To sum up the depth of feelings from this trek - so powerful at the time I could not think in words - I felt His creation of it all. I was humbled - an imperfect human being passing through a perfect world. And insignificant though I am in the eons of time needed to craft this masterpiece, I indeed did matter and I felt loved.

 

   I was walking in a prayer.