HomeWord - Mar. 11, 2008

Resting deep in the heart of the Rocky Mountains winds a footpath lined with firs, aspens and pine.  The melodic rhythm of St. Vrain Creek provides welcome companionship along with chipmunks and ground squirrels that scurry at your feet.  If you continue on the path long enough, you find yourself at Calypso Cascades, a beautiful cascading waterfall that fans out across a steep granite cliff face. In a word, it is surreal.  By definition, the word means “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” but can also mean unbelievable or fantastic. That’s really the only way to describe the natural beauty we observed.

The purpose of this trip was to seek God.  I was with a group of teens from our church and our sole purpose was to meet with God.  We had spent the week camping and hiking and had seen and experienced some of the most beautiful views in the country, but this day would stay out in particular, especially for one student.  We spent some extended time at the cascades eating lunch, playing in the water, taking pictures, and doing our daily reading and journaling assignment.  Providentially, the day’s Scripture was Psalm 29:3-6, which includes the above verse.  When it was time to pack up and head back I noticed one student lingering behind.  In fact, she seemed content to stay on her rock, absorbed in the visual feast of the cascades and surrounding forest.  She eventually returned to the group, meeting me with an embrace that spoke a thousand words.

Around the campfire that night, she shared that she hadn’t really heard from God until this day.  She said she both heard God speak through the Scripture and was able to see the message at the same time.  Now, I don’t know what God told her specifically, but I do know that on that rock she experienced God in a way that was surreal, unbelievable and fantastic.