Lord of the universe rich with surprise,
Maker, Sustainer and Ruler of all,
we are your children -- you hear when we call.
---Margaret Clarkson, 1987
Back when I was young and could sleep on the ground, I often
spent a weekend camping with friends in the mountains of north Georgia,
enjoying scenes of rugged beauty around every bend and over every hill. Being
carefree (I did mention that we were
young, didn’t I?), we often knew only the general area we wanted to explore,
and this led to lots of wondering. I don’t mean ‘wandering’; I mean ‘wondering’, as in, “I wonder where we are now?” One particular weekend we were more aimless than
usual, and had gotten onto a one-and-a-half-lane road, headed almost straight
up into the sky (no easy feat for a baby-blue Monte Carlo!). At a bend in the
road, we met an oncoming van, and inched over as far as we dared to let it
pass. As it did, the driver waved and greeted us; we asked what was up ahead.
Now, what we meant was, “Is there a camping spot up ahead?” But he had a bigger answer in mind. “Man,’
he said earnestly, “you wouldn’t believe what’s up there! There’s trees, and mountains, and grass…”
That dude up on the mountain saw the world with a sense of
wonder, with a delight I am usually too jaded to enjoy. In today’s hymn,
Margaret Clarkson names the God of a creation ‘rich with surprise.’ As I
meditate on the concept of a universe teeming with delight and overflowing with
mind-blowing creativity, I think of eclipses, lightning storms, giraffes…and
grace. Just what we need, and more, from a God who is always dreaming.
You wouldn’t believe what’s up there!
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