After a sunset that filled my mind and heart, I woke up to this sunrise and early morning scenery near Hat Point in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in the far corner of Wallowa County. Its massive grandeur never ceases to lift one’s spirits.
The deepest canyon in the United States, with million dollar views, Hells Canyon is one of the most profound esthetic experiences one could ever hope to find, anyone. Meg and I have camped here in early July off and on for over twenty years. Were it not so remote, someone would have obtained a permit for a five star lodge. Instead, simple camping provides this serene wonder and solitude.
I am posting pictures from the sunset. Later, I will post sunrise pictures.
“Put Your song on our lips and in our hearts, and remind us of the joy that awaits us when we put our trust in You. Guide us into the light of Your unwavering, never ending, and grace filled love. Amen.”
When Bob Carter and I started hiking together in 2003, he was 62 and I was 60. We are older and slower now. However, we still have the legs and mental stamina to do this eight mile round trip hike over lots of downed timber and over a couple miles of snow to reach this gorgeous meadow in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. On Monday, June24, we started at the end of the Lostine River Road at Two Pan and hiked up the East Fork of the Lostine River. From tracks we saw, we were only the second people to arrive this season.
“God is love, so His loving is not something He may do nor not do at His will. Loving us is not an intermittent act or series of acts which God does in between other acts. His love flows steadily out upon the whole human race in an unbroken and continuous fulness. There is not a time, not a fraction of time, when God’s love is not active toward us. It is as constant as the being of God, for it is the being of God in unforced, normal expression…
“We are often tempted to wonder how God could love us, but honest as this feeling is, it is nevertheless the result of a wrong way of looking at things. God does not love us because we are hard or easy to love; He loves us because He is God, not because we are good or bad or more attractive or less so. God’s love is not drawn out of Him by its object; it flows out from God in a steady stream because He is love.” A.W.Tozier
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
JOHN O’DONOHUE
Excerpt from the blessing, ‘For One Who is Exhausted,’ in his books:Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us
Friday late afternoon and early evening two weeks ago at the Painted Hills, near Mitchell OR in Wheeler County–the light changes softly but distinctly, subtle but intense, drawing me into an ever deepening mood of peace and relaxation, wonder and joy.
At the Painted Hills, early evening, absolute silence as the light began to glow. I made the time to simply sit, listen to the silence, and open my mind to nothing but God the Creator. Too often, I am busy composing the photo, working quickly as the light changes. I need to relax and let go of my external need to create, and simply let Christ create in me what He will.
The Painted Hills, located near Mitchell OR in the John Day country, represent over fifteen million years of geological history. The colored layers were created by a variety of plants that we covered from intermittent volcanic ash deposits. The wildflowers this year at the Painted Hills were the best ever–truly a super bloom!
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. Matthew 5:43-47
This is not easy advice, but it show us what the Lord expects of our relationships with people who are not like us. Like the rain that falls on the just and the unjust, so rainbows appear to all of us.
