Camp Island October 20

I wake before it is light this morning, feeling nourished by a good night’s sleep. Scott gets up to start the stove to heat up the cabin. The sun is slow to rise this morning. I take hot cocoa down to the end of the island and wait for the pink light to illuminate the snow covered peaks on the mainland. I wait a long, long time.

 

The grass is frosty and stiff and the red bunchberry leaves are laced with ice. The marsh hawk starts to patrol the beach after the sun rises, and I hike around the island stopping to photograph  icebergs up on the beach and the way the wavering seaweed is frozen to the sand. The molten light of autumn reflects off the frosty surfaces, and illuminates the icebergs from inside.

I think about the contrasts in this world between this beach I am walking and Pakistan, or Iraq. How can it be the same planet? There is so much peace here and so little there. Where is God in a war-torn world?

It is easy to see the Face of God here this morning , reflected in the alpenglow on the ice fields or hear the Spirit in the swish of eagle wings passing over my head, and the thundering of icebergs turning in the tide. It is much harder to imagine God’s presence in the current events I heard about on the radio this morning before I left the cabin. Sometimes I wonder if my faith is based on my sheltered life. Would it exist in the maelstrom of the Middle East?

I often hear people ask where God is in a broken world. My understanding is that God is there especially in the broken places.

I don’t think God is a force that makes things happen or prevents bad things from occurring. For me God is a force of goodness that we tap into when we reach for kindness, or a wellspring of compassion we dip into for strength to comfort others and reach beyond our needs.

I don’t think God is ignoring us, and I don’t think He is riding with the perpetrators of evil. I think God is there when we bind each other’s wounds.

The power of evil and selfishness is enormous. We see it in a president who would rather deny health care to children than see that one person who might not deserve it was covered. We see it in the people who are getting rich off the war in Iraq. I see it in my small town when people conspire to hurt others to benefit themselves. But the power for good is just as strong. I think of the courage and strength of the people in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s, or the Liberation theologians like Bishop Romero in South America. I see it every day in my community where people are striving to make the world a better place.

So I am wandering around this beautiful beach this morning with my head full of the fight between Good and Evil and questions about God. Somehow being out of town makes room for the bigger questions. The cold air on my face clears my head, and the quiet spaces make room for thought. I am grateful for the peace and beauty of this wild place.