Farewell to Fallen Leaf Lake, One Of God's Beautiful Places

Hey, Y'all,

Just came back inside after another nearly indescribable quietly and profoundly spiritual time outside--I'm again painfully aware of how limited and inadequate and downright crippled words are in the face of true greatness, be it great joy (or sorrow), or a moving musical masterpiece, or even the stark beauty of the desert or the seemingly endless ocean relentlessly crashing below you; true greatness, in any form, leaves us speechless...

The sun sets pretty late up here (after our last meeting around 9 PM there was still light in the sky--we're at 6400 feet above sea level), so I made my way to a swing bench at the edge of the lake which had by now settled to glass, surrounding hills and mountains perfectly reflected--so this is what literally purple mountain majesties look like--and just sat quietly as the sun set (and set and set...) and the sky slowly filled with stars.

Nothing keeping me company except the sound of a small waterfall a few dozen yards behind me and to my left, and birds flying and dipping their beaks for a quick drink, as did the occasional bat--very cool, interesting how these animals too have their "time in the sun" ('course it's the moon) while the rest of the world sleeps...

By now the scene I'd been waiting for was finally in place--and it didn't disappoint: pitch black sky, loaded with more stars than you can imagine unless you've been out in the sticks away from city lights (and in this case with 6400 feet less of atmosphere to contend with), and all of it reflected perfectly on the glassy lake...

Yep; speechless. Sat there quietly, let it wash over me, and just sat there. Utterly speechless. Not surprisingly got to thinking about God, and it occurs to me that we've talked about God's greatness and His indescribable love and even that He's got to have a great sense of humor (if my life is any indication), but it occurred to me again tonight that aside from everything else, God is very obviously a great lover of beauty. So I sat there with God, and enjoyed that moment, that place of indescribable beauty, and thanked Him for it all, and the only thing that came to mind was Genesis 1:31--

Then God looked over everything He had made, the whole vast array of the heavens and the earth and everything that in them is, and to His great satisfaction He saw that it was excellent in every way--it was so good, so very good!--and and He approved it completely. It was evening, it was morning—that was Day Six.


You've been prayed for one last time from Fallen Leaf Lake (and thank you God--"what is man that you are mindful of him?")...