God in Nature

One of the interesting things that came out of the building conversations the past few weeks has been a discussion of where we all feel closest to God. Pastor Graham began each of the sessions by having people share places where they've felt closest to God, and a real pattern began to emerge — many people talked about feeling close to God in nature.

I've never been a big nature person. My idea of camping is a hotel room. I'm not a big beach person, nor have I been a runner or a hiker, so while I was fascinated by the repeated response, I wasn't sure what to make of it.

But I've been thinking about that, and continued thinking about it as I watched a new program on the Discovery channel called "Frozen Planet." Basically, "Frozen Planet" looks at life in the arctic and antarctic. It's full of beautiful images, and an interesting picture of the harsh conditions in both areas, as well as the plants and animals that call the regions at the extreme north and south of our planet home.

Watching that documentary, and seeing the miracles of life in those remote places, I was struck by that idea of seeing God in nature. One of the stories that struck out to me was about this special caterpillar. For 14 years, on average, it eats all it can during the spring and summer then hibernates during the winter. It literally freezes, near the point of death. Then it starts the cycle all over again.

After about 14 years of this pattern, it is finally able to make a cocoon, become a moth, quickly mate, then it dies. It's a fascinating circle of life, this incredible, almost unbelievable pattern, that is just one of many incredible parts of our world found in these remote, frozen lands.

When you see things like that, or the special species that form below the frozen waters, below the frozen land, or other areas, it's hard not to be moved by the one who brought it all to life. We live in an amazing world, full of miracles every day. Sometimes it's nice to stop, take those in, and let the power of those events move us too.