What a responsibility to honor and hold sacred all that God created! Below is my journal entry from the last day of cross country driving on our sabbatical journey before arriving in Moab, Utah to visit Arches National Park, the first of many.

Field on field; broad expanse; obsidian colored Aberdeen Angus calves clinging close to mom on this Eastern Colorado landscape. The corn country of Iowa and Nebraska gives way to the land of cows. As we draw closer to the pristine Rockies, the farmland becomes fetid with fracking and pimples of propane pipelines mar the complexion of the earth’s face. Onyx that once painted the cows, now colors the land as the nodding donkey pumps rock up and down, pulling petroleum from the earth while the distant brimming bustle of downtown Denver stands as the gateway to the Mighty Rockies. We climb and climb, ears popping, engine grinding, encircled by evergreens dappled with snow. The view opens to a gleaming white snow-capped summit who plays peek-a-boo as the miles pass. Held in the hug of the mountains, ever thankful for Teddy and Woodrow whose pioneering preservationist vision, whose will and work helped preserve this place; for without them, we would consume and covet, mine and mar, build and break, forest and take until crisp, clean creeks, lodge pole pines, and snow-capped summits are consumed by our search for “stuff”. As we pass by Arapaho National Forest on this Sunday drive toward Moab, Utah, I feel gratitude and hear off in the distance the eagle’s echo and that sweet, but nasal song, “Rocky Mountain High”. God is here! 

Please join us for worship Sunday when I will share more about God’s inspirational presence during my sabbatical journey.

Prayer:

Creator God, you have entrusted us to care for your work of art. We hear your earth cry and share its tears. Help us be better caregivers to your creation. Amen.