By Pete Hyde
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:2)
The tired traveler rolled his suitcase to the car in the pre-dawn darkness. He returned to the hotel lobby for a four-star breakfast buffet before continuing his journey. The city streets were almost vacant. The interstate highway was even less populated. Occasional headlights signaled other travelers were on the move as well. The road was dark and lonely taillights disappeared over the hill in front of him.
The morning was cool and crisp. The sky was crystal clear. The heavens were spangled with so many stars it looked like silver and gold dust cast across black velvet. “Thank you, Lord,” was the whispered prayer.
In a rest area, a gaggle of trucks had stopped for the night. The trailer lights made the area look like a neighborhood already decked out for Christmas. Praise music from an unidentified radio station played loudly. The traveler was glad no one was in the car listening to him sing along. “Thank you, Lord,” was the audible, musical prayer.
The sky began to shade from black to grey and the miles clicked along. The change in light showed wispy ground fog hugging the cool earth in the pastures, along stream beds and farm ponds. As the interstate crossed a large lake, the water was hauntingly still, mirroring the brightening sky. An occasional light from inside a lake house sparkled its morning reflection as a compliment to the stars in heaven. “Thank you, Lord,” was prayed again.
The traveler was glad it was getting light. After more than twelve hours of driving the day before and three more hours facing him this morning, the light of dawn was a welcome energizer. The eastern sky in the rearview mirror began to turn blue. Oranges and reds promised a grand sunrise. “Thank you, Lord.”
The hillsides began to show their fall wardrobe as the sunlight pierced the darkness of night. Reds, oranges, yellows, greens and browns sweatered the hillside on this cool morning, competing with the sunrise in a beauty contest between parts of God’s created order. The traveler pulled off for a moment just to take in the glory and sip the last of his cold, gourmet hotel coffee. He didn’t linger long because the miles and a not-so-pleasant business awaited him at the end of his journey. “Thank you, Lord,” was spoken out loud in the early morning stillness.
A truck whizzed past the traveler and left a smell he hadn’t smelled for years. It reminded him of many years of living in cattle country. It was a not-so-welcomed energizer. The miles clicked off, God’s glory and grandeur shown more magnificently with each passing mile.
Then it happened. The sun broke through the horizon in a blazing ball of yellow and orange. Its light struck the hillside dressed in all its fall glory. It almost took the traveler’s breath away. “And God said, ‘Let there be light!! And there was light and God saw that it was good. The traveler almost yelled, “Thank You, Lord!!”
Then he remembered the psalmist’s words: “Who is man that You are mindful of him.” He settled in for the rest of his journey mindful that God had blessed him and was mindful of him right here and right now. “Thank you, Lord.”
Rev. Pete Hyde is the retired Pastor of the Santa Rosa Beach Community Church
Author: Sowal Editor
Views: 0
