Lent

What wondrous love is this,
O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this,
O my soul!

What wondrous love is this
that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse
for my soul, for my soul;

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

-Words: American Hymn

The View

As I look out my hotel window, the peaks and snow-covered slopes of the Rocky Mountains serve as the backdrop for the steel and brick towers of downtown Denver. They are beautiful. I can see why God called them "good" back in Genesis, although in my opinion, he understated things a bit. They are more than good. They are beautiful.

And yet someday, these too will pass. They, like the rest of this world, will fade away. The mountains, the canyons, the bodies of water that so inspire us and fill us with a taste of the "awe" that is deserved by God...they all will come to an end.

But you and I will not. For we have been created for eternity. We have been created to be in relationship with the Creator for ever and ever. There will be no end.

When I stop to contemplate the depths of that (recognizing just how feeble my mind is to grasp this almost ungraspable concept), I begin to understand how humans receive the "very good" designation from God back in Genesis. I begin to understand just how beautiful we must be to God who created us.

The challenge remains to recognize this understatement of "very good" in my brothers and sisters around me. I am awed by the mountains out my window, but where is the deeper awe for the maid who will clean my hotel room?