I was recently on a plane trip to California when I had this idea to post. I normally catch a late flight and see only the night, don’t have a window seat, or am asleep. Fortunately I have the luxury of getting a window seat facing south so I was able to see all this glorious geography as we flew out of Salt Lake City. I was also blessed with a nice comfortable head rest, something else I wasn’t expecting. So I was able to gaze out the window for a long time.
It was fascinating to see the landscape from such an angle and I knew I had to share. Immediately, there were all these pools of wild shades of color. Aqua green and blue, pink to reddish orange, gray to tan. I thought of the near endless spectrum of color we’re allowed to see and how the colors can blend together, the wonder of the eye and the magnificent science of vision, and just having the opportunity to see this beauty God created.
As we flew on, gaining altitude and passing through the clouds, I was able to see them up close. At first there were only a few but they were different consistency, almost like a think fog but in a smooth band that wrapped around the wing of the plane. There were a few down lower, casting shadows on the ground that was now a white crystalline of the Salt Flats. Later, the clouds would turn more fluffy, just like cotton candy. But dense and wildly irregular. It was possibly the first time I’ve analyzed them so closely, admiring their concavities and seemingly endless pockets, crevasses and divets. It was like snow but more shapeless. How could such a thing have possibly come to existence? And they vary depending on the day, season, wind. God created this magnificence.
Looking out beyond the immediate interstate below, I saw thousands of miles of remote and rugged landscape. The mountains coming down into arid ripples of what could have been a dried up river bed. Tens of thousands of years ago, this was all underwater. Did these exist then? I thought of the mountains I’ve been on top and the expanse you see as you look out from the pinnacle. This was a landscape of hundreds of these peaks but they looked as if they were molded out of clay, decorated with trees along the broad ridgelines. I was bewildered at how these could be shaped, rising up out of the crust in an instant by God’s standards while taking thousands of years by our standards.
It’s difficult to describe, as is God’s beauty. All I can say is I was in wonder as I looked out the window. I like this verse “What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.” (Psalm 104:24) Next time you’re outside, take a moment to take it in.
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