Seeing Creation

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace–only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” — Anne Lamott

This past weekend I had the privilege of going to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, to speak once again at the annual Wilderness Wildlife Week.  This is an outstanding event held each January and if you are not familiar with it I’d encourage you to check it out sometime.  While I was in Pigeon Forge I was able to drive into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a couple of times to photograph.  The fact that the park had received several inches of snow prior to my arrival made this an extra special adventure.

I love being able to get out in the woods after it has snowed, especially before a lot of other people get there and create a bunch of tracks.  A snowy landscape is so beautiful and pristine.  It is absolutely amazing how a heavy snow can transform a scene.  Things that might have looked ugly or unattractive before become stunning in appearance.  I thought about this yesterday as I was photographing in the Elkmont region of the park.  I remembered, as I usually do when it snows, the Bible’s wonderful promise, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)  This led me to think further on God’s grace.  There are so many things about snow that remind me of His grace.

On U2’s album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” there is a song called “Grace.”  In the final line of this song Bono sings, “Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.”  God’s grace, like snow, makes beauty out of ugly things.  I know that for a fact.  I’ve seen it in my own life and I’ve seen it in the lives of countless others.  Like gently falling snow God’s grace covers all those who are open to receiving it.  As it blankets us we find ourselves changed.  We look different.  We feel different.  We are different.  Through God’s grace our sins are “covered.”  What was dirty is made clean.  What was ugly is made beautiful. 

Today I find myself very grateful for snow and for God’s amazing grace.  I hope you do too.

–Chuck

(I took both of these pictures yesterday in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains N.P.)

“Open my eyes that I may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.” –Clara H. Scott

This weekend I had a chance to do a couple of programs at the 20^th annual Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  Thursday night Ken Jenkins and I did a program called “The Spiritual Side of Nature.”  The presentation was well-attended and warmly received.

During Ken’s portion of the program he used an interesting analogy to describe certain people.  He noted how those who sleepwalk move about while asleep but do not really see what’s going on around them. Ken then indicated that many people move about day to day but remain blind to the wonders of God’s Creation all around them.  Such people are guilty of a different kind of sleepwalking.

I have known Ken eighteen years and can honestly say that I do not know anyone who is more “awake” when it comes to seeing and experiencing God in Creation.  Although his photography business is based in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Ken has a ministry that takes him all across the country.  In his programs he shows wildlife and landscape images he has taken and draws incredible spiritual truths from them.

Knowing that not all of you will be able to hear Ken speak I want to commend to you his recent publication Nature is the Art of God: A Journey Into the Beauty and Wonder of Creation.  It is one of the most beautiful photographic devotional essays I’ve ever seen.  You can order copies from Ken’s website: www.kenjenkins.com.

Listening to Ken’s presentation Thursday night, and then looking at his new book, has made me want to do a better job of seeing God in Creation.  I think I do a decent job of seeing the obvious but know that there are folks like Ken who see so much more.  How can I improve my vision?  I suspect I should begin by asking God to “open my eyes” so that I might see more and then, with His help, try to discipline myself to slow down and really pay attention.  I plan to do this because I really do not want to be guilty of being a “sleepwalker.”  How about you?

–Chuck

(The image above was taken at Morton Overlook a number of years ago in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.)