Last week, Canada rested my soul.
There's something about the mountains and the rivers, the lakes and the waterfalls, the wildflowers and meadows.
It is, for me, one of the deepest holinesses that I know: the endless, unceasing, enormous, intricate, mysterious big beautiful that turns down the noise inside me and lets the peace appear.
Shalom.
The promise that all is well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well, as Julian of Norwich so beautifully said.
When the world is full of chaos and confusion, destruction and selfishness, this beauty reminds me that there is more goodness here than I can possibly comprehend, more delicate detail, more awesome solidness.
No matter how much I explore, no matter how many paths I walk, there will always be more wonder, more mystery, more bigness, more beauty.
Humanity, it seems to me, is so full of darkness and despair.
And I get so tired sometimes.
But the earth, in all of its Creator-proclaimed goodness is well, and ultimately, we are well within it, while we wait for That Day.
Because we know for sure that nothing can separate us from Love, the endless beauty around us speaks to this truth:
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
Tete Jaune Cache, on the Fraser River
View from Sulphur Skyline, Jasper National Park
Moraine Lake, Banff National Park
These are unfiltered cell phone photos, taken by me. No talent or special equipment involved; this is just how it looks in Banff and Jasper National Parks.