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 created teeming with delight and overflowing
with mind-blowing creativity, I think of eclipses, lightning storms,
giraffes…and grace. You wouldn’t believe what’s up there!
What a surprising God we serve!
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