Have you ever slept out under the stars on a moon less
night? I know that is a silly question. That is an experience I have had for
the last three evenings and I can say that it is truly one of the most amazing
experiences I have ever encountered. So much so, that I wish everyone could
have that experience for their own memory, and refresh it often.
Sure we all have seen the stars, the constellations, a
few satellites or spacecraft overhead, even a few meteors. Those are really cool, but you can see
those sights in the city, or on a night with the moon showing. But after the
moon has set, as a back drop to all the afore mention splendor, you have
something like a salt and pepper mosaic, with tiny specks of light, barely
discernible as points of light. Are these stars, galaxies, universes, or a
curtain badly disintegrated over time, masking us from the Origin of the light
of the universe?
Only a fool could look at such special phenomena and say
that there is no God. Yet, could that be the reason, so few human beings have
ever had this experience? So we, in every tribe, nation, city, and family sleep
content in our cultural shelter, safe and secure from the awesome power of God.
Our natural explanation is that this dwelling is needed
to protect us from the elements, the forces of nature, creatures big and small,
and of course our hostile neighbors. But down deep, could the real reason be,
that we wishfully think that this cultural work we do will some how remove our
accountability to God for our lives?
ÒGod I never read your Bible, or sleep anywhere but my
own bed, in my own room, because this makes me feel secure. Secure in my own
self, my own sinfulness. I have my family to raise, my church, my business, and
my job to be concerned (worried) about.Ó
Since this series is to be about our work, how can we
truly get that work in its proper perspective, without an understanding of
GodÕs handy work, evidenced in the sky, the forest, and even our eyes, that
read these words off a computer screen.
Surely, I havenÕt quite got a handle on this perspective
yet, but I would like to explain some of the details of this work in progress,
on what I mentioned last week was to be a Òworking vacation.Ó
I left Seattle last Thursday, with an appointment to pick
up on Friday a 1964 Airstream trailer. For reasons some what unknown, or
unfulfilled to me, I have always wanted an old Airstream trailer, perhaps IÕm
too cheap to fork out the money for a new one. In any event, at the close of my
last trip over to Eastern Washington, this man just sort of appeared out of
nowhere, as I was looking at another old trailer along side the road.
ÒI was driving by and saw you looking at this trailer.
Would you be interested in an old Airstream. Just follow me to my place and I
will show it to you.Ó About three hours later, having been shown all the
details of this old classic, that had been just setting for 15 or more years, I
had come to the conclusion that this was just not a typical coincidence. So I
ask him again how much he wanted, and the price had dropped $300.
Well, in my time estimate, I figured it would take at
least a couple of hours to get all the different connections made from this
vintage coach to my truck. Sure enough, thatÕs what it took, even though we
didnÕt get everything working properly, we both agreed it would be probably
safe to pull it to my acreage along the Kettle River, some fifty miles distant.
Of course that yellow jacket that stung me on my calf should have been an omen
that my days work was not yet done.
As I reached the highway turn off, just a half mile from
my gate, my apprehension eased as I understood I had traveled the fifty miles
without mishap. I was somewhat concerned however, for this last mile, smoke was
coming from the hill side above my place. ÒI sure hope it doesnÕt come my way,
I need to be prepared, just in case I need to make a quick exit.Ó
ÒOnce I get to my place, IÕll park so I can drive out
quickly if need be. Oh, there is the property, a few more yards and I can open
my gate. WhatÕs that in the road, a downed tree, just fifty feet from the gate,
and what is that in the field, that big pine tree is down, looks pretty close
to the power pole.Ó
Luckily, if you believe in such things, I leave my chain
saw in the cabin, just in case I should ever need it. I needed it. The tree
blocking the road was quickly dispatched and I was through the gate, but the
other tree was a different matter. Yes, it fell directly across the field some
hundred feet by my estimate, and as clean as a whistle shaved my electric
service right off the power pole. A few feet in either direction and my power
would not have to be restored.
There are probably fifty to one hundred trees, a few of
them leaning in a threatening direction, that in a wind storm or other natural
occurrence could fall across the power line from the utility companyÕs
transformer to my power pole. But no, this huge mother had to fall clear across
the middle of the property and shave the electric service off this tiny pole.
Now, when your proposed turn around area has been cut in
half, and you have a truck and trailer that surely go nearly forty feet, you
need some room to get the rig turned around in case you need to make a fiery
exit. That means cutting at least a small path through the fallen tree, to do
the necessary backing and turning.
From the restaurant where I went and reported my power
outage, I learned that seventy mile an hour winds had come through the region
and started a fire by downing power lines just on the other side of the main
highway, about a quarter mile away. Hence I assume, that all happened before my
tree fell down, so that there was not power in my line, when I got my pole
cleaned. The total fire blacken about sixty acres, all heading away from my
place.
Therefore, I had the last three nights to watch the
stars, from a total an unique vantage point, within a few feet of a large tree,
that I worked to cut in half and clean out of the way. And after the three
quarter moon set at about 2 AM, you have an unique perspective of GodÕs handy
work, and the role He gave me to obtain that perspective. Then again, that too
is His handy work.
By the end of the week, my Òworking vacationÓ hopefully
will have been able to get the power restored and to receive that fresh
perspective I sought to find. Right now IÕm back in Spokane, I need to sleep in
a real bed and make a number of phone calls. However, I donÕt want to loose the
perspective that sky and trees, are more important than people. There, within
our gifts of civilization, we all hide from God in our insecure shelters,
hoping against hope to be free of fears, and bondage, but unable to venture
into the starry moonless night, and experience the love of God in Jesus Christ,
Creator of the universe.