By Chris Bates
Standing near the crest of one of the round-topped Bitterroot Mountains looking over a plush valley split by a winding Montana river will just about take your breath away. Gazing up at the Grand Tetons from the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming provides a majestic view almost beyond description. If you have ever been out on the water near Bermuda and looked out through the aquamarine-clear water at the coral reefs more than 60 feet down, you know what kind of beauty it really is. Watching the sun set across the vast Mississippi Delta and paint the bottom of the sky an almost pumpkin orange is something to behold. Our world is literally covered with grand views.
Sometimes, though, glorious beauty is small and close. The tiny hand of a newborn baby, fingers slightly curled in, is nothing less than miraculous. A cold-river brown trout has dozens of small, crowned, dark-then-red spots across its gold-tinted skin. Witnessing the smile of an elderly parent when a long-ago story comes up is a genuine pleasure.
This world contains countless splendid places and small, captivating views. The closer we look at both the grand and the tiny, the more we can see and appreciate God’s handiwork.
Romans 1:20 reminds us, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” We are gifted beauty so that God’s existence, power, and presence are undeniable.
One might argue, though, that God’s most amazing work is inside each of us. Often the most beautiful views are when we are present, right where we are, in ways that connect inwardly. Soak in the laugh of a child, a loving gaze from a spouse, an “attaboy” from a friend, a “thank you” from someone in need, a message from a fellow disciple. Those are the most glorious places, the ones with both a view and a fellowship, a connection with God and our fellow man.
Our feelings, though sometimes challenging, are also inward encounters with joy, love, comfort, contentment, and hope. This perspective may require the most work, though, because the outside world is more easily seen and recorded. Perhaps our tougher challenge is to experience God inside ourselves and those around us, and to be conscious of that spiritual significance.
For some, John 1:3 may concoct visions of landscapes, sunsets, or flowers. The verse says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Those words also apply, though, to God’s involvement within us.
To encounter many of the most glorious places, you do not have to use frequent flyer miles or burn a tank of gas, and you can’t text a picture of them. Spend quiet time in prayer. Share time with another. Give someone more hope than they had yesterday. Find your own pathway to best experiencing God’s work inside yourself and those you come across in your walk.
Chris Bates is CEO of AgoraEversole, a full-service marketing agency in Jackson, and can be reached at Chris@AgoraEversole.com. He and his wife, Stacy, live in Madison and have adult children and three grandboys.
