Mondays are my days. It’s my day off, and I religiously take that time to regroup, rejuvenate, and simply let go of all the stuff I have to deal with on a day to day basis. Last year I stepped up my running and decided to start running marathons, and when I did I realized that training takes a lot of time because one has to put in a lot of miles. As such Monday is not only my day off, but it has become the day when I go out and run my long mileage – 12, 16, 20 miles – just my podcasts, the beauty of nature, and my thoughts all to myself. I LOVE my Mondays.
This week my training schedule called me to run a shorter distance, so I decided to run the Blue Ridge Parkway, which though it has some significant elevation changes, is beautiful. This past Monday was a dreary day. The forecast called for rain and/or freezing rain later in the morning, and fog warnings were issued for the morning. As I made it toward the overlook where I’d park, I realized that that was indeed the case.
The fog on Parkway was not too bad at lower elevations, but the higher I ran the more socked in it was. At the highest elevations visibility was about 5 car lengths ahead, which is why I was running with a headlamp and bright clothing (for that one car that passed me during the hour and a half I was on the parkway).
It is fascinating and fun to run in the fog, because when doing so it’s like running in a tunnel. It’s as if one is inside one of those hamster/gerbil tunnels, cocooned and enveloped in an environment which hides the reality around. One can hear cars below, animals scurrying, and trees creaking, but see little to nothing. And yet the isolation was not deafening or stifling, rather for me it was freeing. Just God, me, and nature in communion together. However, the fog was not what had the most impact on me during this run. Instead it was what that fog became.
As I reached the higher elevations, the moisture from the fog turned from simply wetting the roads and mountain down, to freezing into ice. Only this was no ordinary ice. Instead of hanging down from branches and signs, when the wind blew, the wind's power was stronger than gravity on the tiny molecules of fog, thus forming sideways icicles.
These icicles were not formed by dripping, instead, they were tiny needles of ice, much like a needle used to repair clothing, and the needles were side by side, connected at the body. These needles were melded together and formed arching formations similar to a fin running down the back of a fish or lizard, all of them sticking out to the side, just as the wind formed them.
Amazingly these formations took hold on everything except the road itself. The pine needles were extended with ice needles, ice sculptures jutted out from branches and signs, and on the individual weeds and grass along the side of the road, the same. Running through a tunnel of fog, I was surrounded by beauty I’d never experienced before, and I soaked in as much as I could.
One of the things that I am aware is vital when running is to remain hydrated, for if one gets behind on water intake, then one can get into trouble physically and mentally. This was a shorter run, so I didn’t take water with me on the run but left it in the car for my return, however when I reached the point where I needed to turn around I could feel the need for water begin to hit.
Though it wasn’t an overwhelming urge it was there, and so I did the most logical thing at the time, I went to a tree and simply broke off the ice from the branches. It was sweet and clean, and it was the perfect consistency to simply melt in my mouth. The needles dissolved as the medicine that I needed at the time, and I looked around realizing that I had an endless supply of what I needed. It was a beautiful thing.
In the 22nd chapter of Genesis there is a difficult story – Abraham taking his son, Isaac, up the mountain to sacrifice him. This old man being faithful to what he believed was God’s call, taking his only son to a place where a sacrifice would be expected. I can’t imagine, and you probably can’t either. And though I won’t get into the inexhaustible amount of theology that is wrapped up into this story, there is one point that is central, and that is that God will provide.
In the 7th and 8th verses Isaac asks his father where the lamb was, and Abraham responds out of faith, “God will provide.” And the author says, “the two of them went on together.” They go upon into that mountain, maybe with a little bit of tunnel vision, trusting that God would provide, and God did.
As I think about my experience Monday, I realize what a powerful reminder this was for me of God’s grace. God provided the time, at the right time, in the right way, to see and experience communion. God provided the space and the setting in which I experienced the grandeur and majesty of God’s world. God provided the essential element of water in a most unlikely place, and when I received that gift it was the best I’d ever had.
Where are you in your life? Are you needing a God that provides? God is providing. Are you feeling lost and in a fog, living in a tunnel, or maybe even frozen by the winds of life? God provides a way out. Are you running away from something, someone, or even yourself? Look beside you, and you’ll see the great Provider. There may even be some mountains and treacherous roads ahead, and yet God provides.
God provides. Thanks be to God.
Where do you need to experience God’s provision? Pray and look around. The signs and assurances are there.
This week my training schedule called me to run a shorter distance, so I decided to run the Blue Ridge Parkway, which though it has some significant elevation changes, is beautiful. This past Monday was a dreary day. The forecast called for rain and/or freezing rain later in the morning, and fog warnings were issued for the morning. As I made it toward the overlook where I’d park, I realized that that was indeed the case.
The fog on Parkway was not too bad at lower elevations, but the higher I ran the more socked in it was. At the highest elevations visibility was about 5 car lengths ahead, which is why I was running with a headlamp and bright clothing (for that one car that passed me during the hour and a half I was on the parkway).It is fascinating and fun to run in the fog, because when doing so it’s like running in a tunnel. It’s as if one is inside one of those hamster/gerbil tunnels, cocooned and enveloped in an environment which hides the reality around. One can hear cars below, animals scurrying, and trees creaking, but see little to nothing. And yet the isolation was not deafening or stifling, rather for me it was freeing. Just God, me, and nature in communion together. However, the fog was not what had the most impact on me during this run. Instead it was what that fog became.
As I reached the higher elevations, the moisture from the fog turned from simply wetting the roads and mountain down, to freezing into ice. Only this was no ordinary ice. Instead of hanging down from branches and signs, when the wind blew, the wind's power was stronger than gravity on the tiny molecules of fog, thus forming sideways icicles.
These icicles were not formed by dripping, instead, they were tiny needles of ice, much like a needle used to repair clothing, and the needles were side by side, connected at the body. These needles were melded together and formed arching formations similar to a fin running down the back of a fish or lizard, all of them sticking out to the side, just as the wind formed them.
Amazingly these formations took hold on everything except the road itself. The pine needles were extended with ice needles, ice sculptures jutted out from branches and signs, and on the individual weeds and grass along the side of the road, the same. Running through a tunnel of fog, I was surrounded by beauty I’d never experienced before, and I soaked in as much as I could.
One of the things that I am aware is vital when running is to remain hydrated, for if one gets behind on water intake, then one can get into trouble physically and mentally. This was a shorter run, so I didn’t take water with me on the run but left it in the car for my return, however when I reached the point where I needed to turn around I could feel the need for water begin to hit.
Though it wasn’t an overwhelming urge it was there, and so I did the most logical thing at the time, I went to a tree and simply broke off the ice from the branches. It was sweet and clean, and it was the perfect consistency to simply melt in my mouth. The needles dissolved as the medicine that I needed at the time, and I looked around realizing that I had an endless supply of what I needed. It was a beautiful thing.In the 22nd chapter of Genesis there is a difficult story – Abraham taking his son, Isaac, up the mountain to sacrifice him. This old man being faithful to what he believed was God’s call, taking his only son to a place where a sacrifice would be expected. I can’t imagine, and you probably can’t either. And though I won’t get into the inexhaustible amount of theology that is wrapped up into this story, there is one point that is central, and that is that God will provide.
In the 7th and 8th verses Isaac asks his father where the lamb was, and Abraham responds out of faith, “God will provide.” And the author says, “the two of them went on together.” They go upon into that mountain, maybe with a little bit of tunnel vision, trusting that God would provide, and God did.
As I think about my experience Monday, I realize what a powerful reminder this was for me of God’s grace. God provided the time, at the right time, in the right way, to see and experience communion. God provided the space and the setting in which I experienced the grandeur and majesty of God’s world. God provided the essential element of water in a most unlikely place, and when I received that gift it was the best I’d ever had.
Where are you in your life? Are you needing a God that provides? God is providing. Are you feeling lost and in a fog, living in a tunnel, or maybe even frozen by the winds of life? God provides a way out. Are you running away from something, someone, or even yourself? Look beside you, and you’ll see the great Provider. There may even be some mountains and treacherous roads ahead, and yet God provides.
God provides. Thanks be to God.
Where do you need to experience God’s provision? Pray and look around. The signs and assurances are there.
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One of your best writings! What an incredible experience.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Kathy
Thanks Kathy. It was incredible indeed.
ReplyDelete