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This past week, the girls and I took somewhat of a vacation to a spot in Oregon, quite close to the California border.
As if being surrounded by mountains wasn't enough, we saw Crater Lake, drove over the border to California to walk through a redwood forest, and took a jet boat ride down the Rogue. All of these things were beautiful and amazing, but two views stuck in my mind.
One was the sight of a slug making it's way past a giant redwood tree.
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God and God alone created all these things we call our own;
From the mighty to the small,
the glory in them all is God's and God's alone.
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What kind of God is this that can and would form two such opposites living side by side, yet both equally creative in their own right? What kind of person would I be if I were to look upon those two things and say to myself "this is so beautiful, thank you Darwin, for helping me understand evolution and how this came to be".
Now, I COULD have said that, but I also could have dug a pit and attempted to throw myself straight into Satan's arms. Both would have made as much sense at that point in time.
The other happened one early afternoon as we took a short drive through the town we were in. On the return to the house I happened to glance up toward the sky. What I saw caused me to immediately cry out for the girls to look and see what God had written up there for us.
Imagine, if you will, a giant canvas painted with a perfect blue and white sky. Now picture the side of a mountain, full of beautiful trees and other natural forest growth painted in the center of this canvas, completely surrounded still by the blue and white skies.
After a moment of awe, I realized what was causing this illusion in the sky. There was a mountain ahead of us, topped with blue sky and white clouds. Another layer of clouds had settled at the bottom of it. The result was a clear view of the front side of this mountain, while the top, bottom, and sides were surrounded by sky and clouds. One could almost envision a throne at the top of this majestic vision.
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God and God alone is fit to take the universe's throne.
Let every thing that lives reserve its truest praise for God and God alone.
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Being in this area of the country did something for me. It gave me hope. Do you know why? Listen, and I'll tell you. Those of you born under neon lights, who grew up playing on pavement and darting traffic to get across the street to see a play mate may understand this a bit better than others, although I do hope that what I am trying to convey will reach all who take the time to read it.
In places like this part of Oregon that we visited, it is abundantly clear that God reigns. His creation there is relatively untouched, and to view it and walk through it truly gives you an understanding of the power and nature of God. When you walk down the streets of Los Angeles, or New York, or Chicago, or wherever you may be, you see not what God has created, but what man has attempted to create. It is NOT good. You can smell and taste the corruption, and all you have to do is walk down the street for five minutes. God's natural creation has been destroyed, trampled, and replaced with what man thought was better, more efficient, or easier to manage.
It truly makes you see "what is man, that thou art mindful of him", in a whole new light.
I can wrap this up in a few simple sentences.
We really messed up quite a bit of this world, and that's really sad. However, it cannot and will not continue this way forever, so take heart.
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God and God alone reveals the truth of all we call unknown;
And all the best and worst of man can't change the master plan;
It's God's and God's alone!
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Chrys