The Hand of God
Some final thoughts and photos from our family vacation last month:
In my recent post, “God Who Created All Things,” I reflected on ways of coming to know God: on the desire in our hearts and in Creation itself. I concluded with the words of Saint Paul; he and the other Disciples and Apostles were commissioned to spread the good news of Divine Revelation:
“It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature.”
--Catechism of the Catholic Church 51
As my family and I drove through Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico on our recent vacation, I saw many signs pointing to this truth. I saw over seventy crosses along the side of the roadways, each a testament of faith, each a sign of our hope in Eternity.
Dusty at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, on the first afternoon of our trip.
Say to God: "How awesome your deeds! Before your great strength your enemies cringe. All on earth fall in worship before you; they sing of you, sing of your name!"
--Psalms 66: 3&4
It was raining as we drove into Durango, Colorado on the third day of our trip, and the rain turned to hailstones before we reached our lodgings for the night. A light dusting of snow covered the ground the next morning, enough for the kids to throw snowballs. We rode a train pulled by an old-fashioned steam engine to Silverton. As we pulled into the old mining town, I spotted a shrine on the side of the mountain above the town. The Christ of the Mines Shrine, a twelve-ton statue of Jesus carved from Carrara marble, was erected by the townspeople in 1959 as a tribute and in the hope that it would in some way restore prosperity to the struggling economy.
In Albuquerque, images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and carved Santos were everywhere in the shops and restaurants. We ate dinner in a Mexican restaurant in Old Town, and on a shelf on the adobe wall above our table was an image of Jesus carved from a piece of driftwood. The carving leaned over the edge of the shelf such that it appeared to me as if Jesus were watching over us as we ate.
The next day, we watched a hundred hot air balloons of all different shapes launch in the crisp early-morning air. We walked among the balloons shaped like cows, suns, flowers, stage coaches and package delivery trucks, I spotted Noah’s Ark and Jesus on a cloud.
Before leaving New Mexico, we hiked over a rocky hillside in Petroglyph National Monument. Among the other symbols, I saw several crosses. Some of them were made several centuries ago by Spanish shepherds. But the others, these outlined crosses, were carved by the hands of prehistoric Native Americans.
We don’t know what these symbols meant to the ancient peoples who carved them, but personally, I believe there was a Divine inspiration.
I see His hand everywhere.
In my recent post, “God Who Created All Things,” I reflected on ways of coming to know God: on the desire in our hearts and in Creation itself. I concluded with the words of Saint Paul; he and the other Disciples and Apostles were commissioned to spread the good news of Divine Revelation:
“It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature.”
--Catechism of the Catholic Church 51
As my family and I drove through Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico on our recent vacation, I saw many signs pointing to this truth. I saw over seventy crosses along the side of the roadways, each a testament of faith, each a sign of our hope in Eternity.
Dusty at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, on the first afternoon of our trip.
Say to God: "How awesome your deeds! Before your great strength your enemies cringe. All on earth fall in worship before you; they sing of you, sing of your name!"
--Psalms 66: 3&4
It was raining as we drove into Durango, Colorado on the third day of our trip, and the rain turned to hailstones before we reached our lodgings for the night. A light dusting of snow covered the ground the next morning, enough for the kids to throw snowballs. We rode a train pulled by an old-fashioned steam engine to Silverton. As we pulled into the old mining town, I spotted a shrine on the side of the mountain above the town. The Christ of the Mines Shrine, a twelve-ton statue of Jesus carved from Carrara marble, was erected by the townspeople in 1959 as a tribute and in the hope that it would in some way restore prosperity to the struggling economy.
In Albuquerque, images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and carved Santos were everywhere in the shops and restaurants. We ate dinner in a Mexican restaurant in Old Town, and on a shelf on the adobe wall above our table was an image of Jesus carved from a piece of driftwood. The carving leaned over the edge of the shelf such that it appeared to me as if Jesus were watching over us as we ate.
The next day, we watched a hundred hot air balloons of all different shapes launch in the crisp early-morning air. We walked among the balloons shaped like cows, suns, flowers, stage coaches and package delivery trucks, I spotted Noah’s Ark and Jesus on a cloud.
Before leaving New Mexico, we hiked over a rocky hillside in Petroglyph National Monument. Among the other symbols, I saw several crosses. Some of them were made several centuries ago by Spanish shepherds. But the others, these outlined crosses, were carved by the hands of prehistoric Native Americans.
We don’t know what these symbols meant to the ancient peoples who carved them, but personally, I believe there was a Divine inspiration.
I see His hand everywhere.
posted by DarrellBowles | 3:28 PM
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