Too Much/Not Enough

Pastel study looking towards Mt. Baker from Anacortes, WA

9" x 12"

"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink" wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his famous poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".  That pretty much sums up the problem with water this summer.  The state of Louisiana is suffering from terribly destructive flooding.  A place in eastern Nebraska got dumped on with 8 inches of rain last night.  Out here in the Pacific Northwest, the forests and pastures are parched from weeks and weeks of no rain.  We are wired for Paradise, wanting and needing what is perfect in every area of our lives.  Anything more or less is bound to make us irritable and discontent.  We long for what was lost in Eden.  We yearn for a redeemed world where all is beautiful, good, and safe.  C. S. Lewis wrote about this yearning when he said, "We want something else which can hardly be put into words---to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."  Something better is coming!  For those who are looking forward to the day when God restores in an even greater way what was lost in Eden, the greatest adventure lies ahead!

High Adventure

As I have seen a child,

Round-eyed and innocent,

Leaving his treasured playthings piled

Where new adventure overtook,

Climb up a little staired ascent,

Holding in fear his parent's hand,

And, trepidant with fresh alarms

Yet gathering courage from each trustful look,

With utter confidence in a last command,

Fling himself laughing into his father's arms---

So I, another child,

Holding my Father's hand,

Now from my busy arts beguiled

By what He promises beyond,

Forgetting all that I have planned, 

And pressing on with faith's sure sight

O'er rock and ridge, through mists and storms,

With confidence that swallows up despond,

From the last crag of life's most glorious height

Cast me exultant into my Father's arms.

---A.W. Spalding

Live bravely and beautifully!