Its a particularly dreich day today, with snow forecast for the weekend, brrrr. I decided to lighten the day by looking at some holiday pictures. This one, of Fingal's Cave on the Island of Staffa was taken last Easter on a trip with some young folks from the church. The formation of this island and its famous cave is awe inspiring. To think that all that geometrical perfection is entirely natural and not man made makes me stop in my tracks. What kind of creator can achieve such marvellous perfection? A perfection that withstands the ravages of time and the elements. It was a very peaceful yet disturbing place to be. The sheer peace is what in itself disturbs. Its like a world apart, divorced from the everyday hurly burly yet bearing evidence of a time before time and of a presence before existence. The experience of being there and now, of looking back on this image, fills me with conflicting senses. A contrary encounter with nature - God's awesome creation. Can anyone glimpse such majesty and remain unmoved?
Sadly, many people do seem to be unmoved, and some don't even notice! But you are not one of them. You 'take off your shoes.'
ReplyDelete"Earth's crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God,
And only he who sees takes off his shoes,
the rest sit round and pluck blackberries." (E.B. Browning)
Iain, thank you - love that quote from Browning - and the affirmation.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!
ReplyDelete(And I enjoyed the use of the new-to-me word, dreich! ;-) Thanks to Iain, I can picture what you describe. And you describe things so well.)