Awakening the inner spirit

October 7th

On my way out the door this morning, I grabbed my laptop and camera and headed out not knowing where I’d end up today. It was only in the high 40s this morning but it’s heading up to the 60’s with sunny and beautiful skies. With the foliage turning it’s tempting to head up to New Hampshire or maybe to Gloucester for pictures.

I stopped along the way to shoot some beautiful open places near Medfield and was even taken with a sociable flock of geese outside. I love stopping to take pictures, just trying to capture the beauty around me so I can take it home with me.

This is the most powerful witness I experienced at the age of eighteen. It is the thing that brought me to my knees while living in Alaska, and it remains one of the things that continues to move me to worship.

Natural beauty in God’s creation, when you really stop to admire and soak it in, speaks of who God is in all his might and perfection. Like the quiet majesty of snow-peaked mountains or the whisperings of the great tundra. The secret mysticism one feels overlooking the rainbow-painted desert or the depths of the sea.

Whether in stillness or storm, whether in the brilliance of sunset or sunrise, even in the cool blue light of moon glow God’s earth is rich with inspiration. It always points us back to wonder. We’re the ones who spoil it with all our pollutions and dissolutions, our high wires and commercial signs. Strip away all our neon nonsense and material madness.

Look at the sheer intelligence of design and purpose and be amazed. From chrysalis cocoons to eagles moulting, from swarming bees to the marching of army ants, from salmon migrations to the parade of penguins it is all too wonderful to contain. Too complex to explain away.

In Miller’s book, he speaks of what I call the awakening of the inner spirit. Miller writes,

“For a while, I felt as though the world were a watch and God had lifted the lid so I could see the gears. The intricate rules of the sociospiritual landscape were something like a play to me, and I was delighted at every turn in the plot.

The truths of the Bible were magic, like messages from heaven, like codes, enchanting codes that offered power over life, a sort of power that turned sorrow to joy, hardship to challenge, and trial to opportunity… After I became a Christian, every aspect of human interaction had a fascinating appeal, and the intricate complexity of the natural landscape was remarkable in its perfection: the colors in the sky melding with the horizon, those south Texas sunsets burning distant clouds like flares, like fireworks, like angel wings starting flight.

God was no longer a slot machine but something of a Spirit that had the power to move men’s souls…” Blue Like Jazz, p.59-60