"Give thanks to the Lord for His great love and the wonderful things he has done. For he satisfies the thirsty, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." Psalm 107: 8-9
My first day of hiking alone on this last trip to Spain was nothing short of magnificent. To make a long story short (though I don't think I'm capable of that) I hiked up and over a pass and a great, vast scene opened up before me, like a picture that I was going to walk into and through for the rest of that day. It was glorious. I probably took 100 pictures that day even while knowing that nothing would quite capture the scope and the scale, and for sure not the way it felt. A day like this one is the reason I go on these solo adventures. Walking alone in the bigness of nature resets my perspective. I recognize how small I am. I am just a split second in the big scale of time. I am, well, essentially dust. None of that feels bad though... not insignificant in any way at all. In the scale of everything, from that perspective I understand better how big God is. He is before time began. He set these mountains in place and hung the stars in the skies. And he sees me. He cares about me and what I care about. And, I believe he finds joy in seeing me enjoying his creation.
While I walked in that vastness I was thanking God for the beauty around me and for the opportunity to be there doing this thing that I love. I started thinking about my dad who loved adventuring, but also if he were alive would be at home worrying about me. But he's not alive on this earth and he worries no more, and I hoped that he could see me adventuring and so filled with joy. He would have loved that. I felt like that moment needed a soundtrack behind it to balance the great visual so I pulled up one of my playlists. Well, I'll be darned if the first song that came on wasn't the one that I was playing in my dad's room while he was dying and I held his hand. This may sound weird or sad or something, but it wasn't. It was amazing and deep and touching and affirming. While it maybe wasn't affirming that dad could actually see me, it was affirming that God did. And the next two songs that played only drove that point home as they were songs that always bring a recollection of emotions that I feel when I'm alone in the mountains. I laughed and commented aloud to God about His playlist that he had chosen for me in just that moment. It was specific and personal and that wasn't lost on me. If felt like a gift. And I believe it was.
To know that I know that I know something to be true, for sure is something I don't feel very much of. I don't know most things. I have thoughts and opinions and theories and philosophies about a lot of things. But one thing I do know: There is A God. He is good. He is merciful and gracious and forgiving and generous. And, He loves me.
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