Yesterday’s trip to the Blue Ridge
Mountains added a few hundred photographs to my vacation collection. The leaves
have not reached their most spectacular display, but the higher we climbed, the more color we saw. Later we learned
that this park is visited by more people than any other park in the world. They
come mostly in late October, by the millions.
At the end of our trip, we happened
upon a famous hotel where presidents and movie stars have slept. To me, that
wasn’t as interesting as the way it was built. The stone walls are irregular
and rough and it has a tiled roof resembling the thatched roofs of an English
country cottage, only this place is no cottage.
As we stood in the lobby, someone
suggested we have tea there. I looked around at the money flowing and felt like
tea would be outrageously expensive. All I wanted was something to refresh me,
not the status of having tea where famous people have tea. When I said so, it
seemed as if I’d thrown a wet blanket on the party.
The others didn’t say anything
though. The only voice I was hearing was my spiritual enemy giving me flack for
speaking about my value system, or maybe for saying what I did about a worldly
value system. The only reason I was vulnerable to his yakking is because I hate
to make people annoyed with me, especially my family and especially when we
were having a good time. Yet the beauty of the trip, at least in my mind, was
spoiled by the status symbol of even looking at this hotel, as if it had
anything over the treasure of the vistas we had just admired.
This morning’s verse is not
particularly about this small incident of yesterday, but it does remind me of God’s
faithfulness.
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. (Micah 7:8)
I don’t think my enemy was rejoicing
over me because I fell. It was more like heckling me because I had the nerve to
challenge a worldly value system. However, I realize God’s value system is like
a black tunnel in the minds of those who don’t know Him. To place the pleasure
of rustling golden leaves and layer upon layer of blue horizons over rubbing
shoulders with the rich and famous seems foggy to some, even somewhat childish.
That I felt this hotel threatened to be a blot on our day would make some
people think I was a bit off.
There is nothing wrong in building
massive hotels or respecting prominent people. What bugs me is the idea that anyone
is somehow made more valuable, even if just in their own eyes, if they can do
something that rich people do.
Biblically, the only way that can work
is if my life somehow reflects the life of Jesus Christ, the only prominent
person that matters. He didn’t care about fancy this or expensive that. He created
an incredible universe by speaking it into existence. How can I be more
impressed by anything else?
Lord, I am awed by Your creation. Even
the best that man can do does not compare with the smallest butterfly, never
mind the layers of mountain ranges and the fall foliage that we saw yesterday. Forgive
me for the times that I have been over-awed by human achievement. Also forgive
me for the times I have remained silent when others are carried away by the
things that will not last. Most of all, thank You that when value systems
become hazy or even dark, You are able to grant me light to see what is most
important to You.
No comments:
Post a Comment