Hidden from View
Alan Dusel / Audio Ministry Coordinator
My wife and I recently returned from a week-long getaway up north to the state of Maine. We stayed in a remote little town called Liberty, about an hour from the central coast, in a quaint vacation home on a small private lake … very rural and quiet. We try to get away as often as we can to take some time to slow down and take a deep breath, pause, and break from the race of our busy lives and to relax with our yellow lab, Monty. This time it was so long in coming, and sooo needed.
Time went by quickly up there, so far away from everything. Even though the weather was not ideal every day, we made the most of it, with frequent visits down to the dock, where Monty accompanied me as I fished, and he swam in the crystal-clear water of the lake, diving off the dock like “Super Dog” in full fetch-the-stick mode!
One late evening near the end of our stay, my wife took Monty out for his ‘before bed’ walk while I was curled up on the couch. Shortly after leaving, she rushed back into the cabin and exclaimed, “Quick, you have GOT to come and see this! Come quickly!” Not sure what she was talking about, I quickly threw on a hoodie, grabbed a flashlight, slipped into my crocs and followed them out the door into the pitch black of the night. They led me up the long driveway through the woods towards the entrance to the place where we were staying, on the main road. When we got to the end of the driveway, beyond the wooded area, we stopped and she said, “Look up…” There, spread out before us, was the most amazing display of the heavens I have ever seen! Millions of stars filled our view, shining brightly on a backdrop of pure black velvet. There were no other lights around, and the moon was nowhere to be found … just an amazing sight that I will never forget! The Milky Way could be clearly seen, and I remembered some of the constellations from my high school days. It was easy to see the different colors of the stars, some orange, some brighter blueish white, twinkling in the heavens.
We stared straight up into the heavens for a long while on that dark crisp autumn night, often getting dizzy and almost falling over. I pointed out the Big Dipper, the Belt of Orion, and the Pleiades (the 7 sisters) star grouping. We were both amazed that up here, far away from big cities and bright lights, that we could see so much more of God’s handiwork in the heavens. We both agreed that we would never see such a display where we live back home in WNY, where light pollution keeps these secrets hidden from view.
We finally made our way back to the warmth of the cabin. Later that night, as I lay awake thinking about what we saw, it came to me that there are similarities to our fast-paced lives and God’s blessings. We are often so busy with the rat race of doing life, working multiple jobs, meeting demands, running here, running there, and keeping commitments, that we often don’t see the beauty and the blessings from Our Father all around us. Our hectic, crazy lives often distract us and keep God’s blessings in our lives “hidden from view.”
Take some time today to get away; take a 15- or 20-minute vacation, get alone with God, and rest in His presence. Explore the wonder of who He is, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth, Our Heavenly Father. If we make this a daily practice in our everyday schedule, we will begin to clearly see the vastness of God’s handiwork in our lives that is evident all around us, every moment of every day, if only we take the time to stop, pause, and “look up.” It is only then that we will begin to see the millions of blessings, as bountiful as the stars in the Heavens that are all too often … hidden from view.
My wife and I recently returned from a week-long getaway up north to the state of Maine. We stayed in a remote little town called Liberty, about an hour from the central coast, in a quaint vacation home on a small private lake … very rural and quiet. We try to get away as often as we can to take some time to slow down and take a deep breath, pause, and break from the race of our busy lives and to relax with our yellow lab, Monty. This time it was so long in coming, and sooo needed.
Time went by quickly up there, so far away from everything. Even though the weather was not ideal every day, we made the most of it, with frequent visits down to the dock, where Monty accompanied me as I fished, and he swam in the crystal-clear water of the lake, diving off the dock like “Super Dog” in full fetch-the-stick mode!
One late evening near the end of our stay, my wife took Monty out for his ‘before bed’ walk while I was curled up on the couch. Shortly after leaving, she rushed back into the cabin and exclaimed, “Quick, you have GOT to come and see this! Come quickly!” Not sure what she was talking about, I quickly threw on a hoodie, grabbed a flashlight, slipped into my crocs and followed them out the door into the pitch black of the night. They led me up the long driveway through the woods towards the entrance to the place where we were staying, on the main road. When we got to the end of the driveway, beyond the wooded area, we stopped and she said, “Look up…” There, spread out before us, was the most amazing display of the heavens I have ever seen! Millions of stars filled our view, shining brightly on a backdrop of pure black velvet. There were no other lights around, and the moon was nowhere to be found … just an amazing sight that I will never forget! The Milky Way could be clearly seen, and I remembered some of the constellations from my high school days. It was easy to see the different colors of the stars, some orange, some brighter blueish white, twinkling in the heavens.
We stared straight up into the heavens for a long while on that dark crisp autumn night, often getting dizzy and almost falling over. I pointed out the Big Dipper, the Belt of Orion, and the Pleiades (the 7 sisters) star grouping. We were both amazed that up here, far away from big cities and bright lights, that we could see so much more of God’s handiwork in the heavens. We both agreed that we would never see such a display where we live back home in WNY, where light pollution keeps these secrets hidden from view.
We finally made our way back to the warmth of the cabin. Later that night, as I lay awake thinking about what we saw, it came to me that there are similarities to our fast-paced lives and God’s blessings. We are often so busy with the rat race of doing life, working multiple jobs, meeting demands, running here, running there, and keeping commitments, that we often don’t see the beauty and the blessings from Our Father all around us. Our hectic, crazy lives often distract us and keep God’s blessings in our lives “hidden from view.”
Take some time today to get away; take a 15- or 20-minute vacation, get alone with God, and rest in His presence. Explore the wonder of who He is, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth, Our Heavenly Father. If we make this a daily practice in our everyday schedule, we will begin to clearly see the vastness of God’s handiwork in our lives that is evident all around us, every moment of every day, if only we take the time to stop, pause, and “look up.” It is only then that we will begin to see the millions of blessings, as bountiful as the stars in the Heavens that are all too often … hidden from view.