Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Empathy Mining

Home
Progressive Christian
Finding God in Yosemite Rain

Finding God in Yosemite Rain

Last updated on: June 6, 2019 at 5:32 pm by Shane Phipps

Finding God in Yosemite Rain 2019-06-06T17:32:12-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sometimes you have to travel in order to find healing new perspectives. In our work-a-day routines, God can sometimes slip our minds. In the tumultuous seas of politics, it can sometimes feel like God has abandoned us. We often get caught up in what feels like a race against time. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that, in that race, time always wins. I am writing this from my hotel room in Seattle. My family has been on a two week journey into the Pacific Northwest. We began last week in San Francisco and have slowly meandered our way North. Along our way, we’ve often unplugged from the trappings of modern civilization and just experienced God’s creation. It’s comforting to know that there are still vast areas of this country where cell phones are useless. It’s times like these when we are forced to focus on what is real, what is important, and what time really means. After visiting some of the most awe-inspiring places in the world, I’ve become acutely aware of how insignificant my little span on earth is in relation to God’s timeless creation. I tried to capture my feelings in a poem. I will share that poem below and then follow up by expanding on my thoughts and reflections.

“Yosemite Rain”
Time cannot be understood
By this simple-minded man
I’m just a ring within the wood
Here and gone in a short span

But time is robbed of all its sting
Within Sequoia glens
For now it doesn’t mean a thing
It’s just as long as it has been

The bluest eyes I ever saw
Were born of violent pain
And my tears begin to fall
Like cold Yosemite Rain

Great monoliths of gleaming white
Are new upon the scene
Heaved and birthed by seismic might
As if they’d always been

Symbolic of the change of course
Plotted centuries ago
By a hellish, seething force
Far beneath the tranquil snow

The bluest eyes I ever saw
Were born of violent pain
And my tears begin to fall
Like cold Yosemite Rain

Gazing over this expanse
Surely puts you in your place
We only get a single chance
Life’s a journey, not a race

The bluest eyes I ever saw
Were born of violent pain
And my tears begin to fall
Like cold Yosemite Rain

The imagery in my poem is a blend of several of the places we have visited. Each of these places–which include three National Parks, Yosemite, Crater Lake, and Lassen Volcanic–put me in touch with God and gave me an appreciation for the natural processes used to create the beauty that surrounds us. These places also put the concept of time into clearer perspective in a dichotomous way. On one hand, these places make time harder to understand…particularly in a literal biblical interpretation of time. For instance, it is impossible for a reasonable person to visit Yosemite and come away believing that the earth is only 6,000 years old, an idea that some Christians try to sell in order to make the creation story in Genesis a literal 7 day period. All that mindset accomplishes is setting up a huge roadblock to detour people from the faith. There are Sequoia trees in Yosemite that have been standing for over 3,000 years and there are fallen monarchs that have been lying on the forest floor, yet to decay, that were standing for many centuries before today’s giants were even sprouts. The Yosemite Valley was carved out over hundreds of thousands of years of glacial erosion. Time loses its meaning when you stand and take in these sights. On the other hand, these places make it easier to give up trying to figure time out and just accept it as is.

Crater Lake is another marvelous example of how God created a majestic place by using violent forces deep within the earth. Many thousands of years ago, there was a great towering mountain where the lake is today. Through one the most explosive seismic events ever seen on this continent, that volcano erupted and collapsed in upon itself, leaving a deep hole 5 miles by 6 miles in width. Over the course of millennia, a lake began to fill that hole. The only sources of water feeding that lake are snowmelt and rain. It is now the deepest lake in America, almost 2,000 feet deep. It also contains the clearest and purest water on earth, creating the bluest blue you’ve ever seen. Twenty-four hour days mean nothing to God.

Along the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, we found unfathomable beauty around every turn. The vastness of the Pacific Ocean puts you in your place. There is still so much out there we know nothing about. We took a whale-watching excursion out into the Monterey Bay. Our guide told us that they are discovering new species of life in the deep trench just off the coast every year. Never before seen life living just a handful of miles from our “great civilization”. It makes the mind reel, as do the enormous whales swimming in those waters. We got to see close to a dozen Humpback Whales up close and personal. We got so close that, at one point, a whale surfaced just out from our boat and the mist of his breath emitting from the blowhole wafted over us. We smelled a strong, foul odor of rotted fish. Our guide told us that was the whale’s breath we were smelling. That was an incredibly humbling moment that I’ll never forget. The diversity of God’s creation is truly astounding.

For the past 10 days or so, I haven’t paid any attention to Trump, politics, or the news in general. I haven’t thought much about religion either, but I’ve thought an awful lot about God. I traveled 2,500 miles from home and found him in abundance out here. It’s been very good for my soul. It’s put a lot of things into perspective for me, most importantly, it’s put me in perspective. I have come to appreciate time for what it is. I have come to understand that life is not a race. Life is a journey. God made a wondrous place for us to roam during our short time here. It has become far too easy to lose sight of that.

Multiple Perspectives

Previous Post

May 13, 2019

How Would the Great Teacher, Jesus, Grade Trump's Presidency?

Next Post

June 14, 2019 Let Me Tell You About a Miracle

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Greek word 'Doulos' mean in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Servant/Slave Priest King Teacher

Support this
Column