Those who live along the North Shore share an experience that is rather unique. Whenever we travel to another part of the state, as we crest the hill above Duluth upon our return, we all think the exact same thing. “I’m home!”
Even though we’re still a two-hour drive from our front door, just being near Lake Superior is all we need to have that sense of place, of knowing that this is where we belong.
The beauty and the power of Lake Superior overwhelm our senses, leaving us breathless. We have a greater reverence for beauty and a deeper respect for the forces of nature because of the lake. One simply can’t look out over this greatest of all lakes without having a sense that we are very small in comparison to the vastness of creation.
In the Book of Job, God asks, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
And the answer, of course, is that we weren’t there billions of years ago when this universe was willed into being out of an infinitely dense singularity. We weren’t there when the earth was formed, when life first began, or when civilization began its inexorable cycle of rising and falling. We can only look back in time as observers of the past, through telescopes and microscopes, with
Those who live along the North Shore share an experience that is rather unique. Whenever we travel to another part of the state, as we crest the hill above Duluth upon our return, we all think the exact same thing. “I’m home!”
Even though we’re still a two-hour drive from our front door, just being near Lake Superior is all we need to have that sense of place, of knowing that this is where we belong.
The beauty and the power of Lake Superior overwhelm our senses, leaving us breathless. We have a greater reverence for beauty and a deeper respect for the forces of nature because of the lake. One simply can’t look out over this greatest of all lakes without having a sense that we are very small in comparison to the vastness of creation.
In the Book of Job, God asks, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
And the answer, of course, is that we weren’t there billions of years ago when this universe was willed into being out of an infinitely dense singularity. We weren’t there when the earth was formed, when life first began, or when civilization began its inexorable cycle of rising and falling. We can only look back in time as observers of the past, through telescopes and microscopes, with trowels and rock hammers, to explore how we got from there to here.
Like Job, we all look up at the night sky in wonder and ask the big question.“ Is there a creating God behind all that we can observe, or are we alone in this vast and unpredictable universe?”
People of faith believe that God answers this question with an emphatic, “I am with you!”
We believe that we are created by a loving and caring God. We believe that we are nurtured by a creator who didn’t just set the universe in motion and then step back from it, but who actively participates in it.
God holds the earth in its orbit around the sun, just as he holds the electrons and the protons in orbit around the nucleus of each atom. God’s creative hand is evident in each strand of DNA. His wisdom is found in the germination of each seed, in the unfolding of each flower and in the birth of each creature. And because God is active within his creation, he is active within us as well. Even in the turmoil and the chaos of this life, God is with us.
Perhaps it is difficult to look around us see just where God is today with violent conflicts raging in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and elsewhere. We may wonder where God is in the persistent violence in Central America that is so appalling that parents are desperate enough to send their children here to keep them from dying in the streets.
We are broken, and in our brokenness we are disconnected from God’s creation. We don’t love our neighbors as ourselves. We don’t love our enemies as we are called to do. We hoard our resources, caring little for those who are hungry. We treat this earth as something to exploit, rather than as a living organism that is entrusted to our care. It is because of this disconnect that God chose to step into his creation as one of us.
Jesus proclaimed to everyone who would listen that God’s kingdom has come near, and that we are to follow in his footsteps by loving one another as we love ourselves. As honest, simple, and obvious as this message seems, it so angered this world that Jesus was put to death as an example of what happens when you challenge the powers of greed and hate.
Perhaps on the surface this doesn’t seem like much of a plan for saving us from ourselves. But it only seems that way if we leave out the very last part of the story. After Jesus was executed, he rose from death, and in doing this, he invites us to share in his resurrection life.
The God who holds the waters of Lake Superior in his hands loves us so deeply that he invites us to share in this new and abundant life. Even in the depths of our brokenness, God loves us, and reaches all the way down into our lives and lifts us up.
The next time you come down to the lakeshore, remember this: The God who creates the indescribable pastels of the sun rising and setting over the lake is the same God who lived and loved as one of us so that we can now live and love others in his name. We are both God’s creation, and his re-creation.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Tom Murray of the Lutsen and Zion Lutheran Churches.
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