Though the Earth Should Change
I have just spent a wonderful week photographing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a great time away from the stress of moving into a new home and the usual pressures that come with being a minister. Even more so, it was a great time to be out in the beauty of God’s Creation and to enjoy the splendor of autumn in the North Woods. I have witnessed autumn in a number of locations all across North America and would concur with those who say autumn in the UP is hard to beat.
This was only my second trip to this region. A friend I traveled with has been over thirty times. One of the things that came up in many of our discussions was how various things had changed. We hiked to one of the most popular waterfalls in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and when we got to the platform designed for viewing the falls my friend was disappointed to discover that the trees in front of the falls had grown so tall that they basically blocked the view of the falls he remembers so fondly. We stopped at another waterfall that both of us had visited on previous trips and were surprised to see that the falls had completely dried up. Many times throughout the trip we were reminded that in nature things change.
Due to technological advancements the past couple of generations have experienced change at a far more rapid rate than those that went before them. I remember as a kid marveling at Dick Tracy’s wrist radio transmitter. Today the iPhone I carry in my pocket does far more than could have been imagined back in that day. I have been photographing seriously about twenty-two years. I marvel at how much has changed with cameras in that time.
The changes we have experienced in just the past few years is enough to make one’s head spin. It is also enough to cause one to be unsettled. How can one have any sense of peace or security in an ever changing world? Some might answer that one cannot find either but I would suggest they are wrong. More than ever I’m convinced that there is one place, or more accurately one person, where we can find a still point and a source of security and that is in God.
A passage that gives me both comfort and hope can be found in Psalm 46. Here we are told “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.” (vs. 1-3) Many times during this past week as I have contemplated changes in both nature and society I have given thanks for the refuge we find in God. I have also reflected more than once on these words from my favorite hymn, “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.” In a world that is forever changing it is good to be able to point to and hold on to One who never changes. Wouldn’t you agree?
–Chuck
(The images used above were taken this past week on my trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.)
