Lenten Devotional – March 3, 2023

Friday, March 3, 2023
The Razor’s Edge: Finding Peace in God’s Creation
By Cris Waters

“I knew that his heart was moved by the beauty and the vastness and the stillness. There’s a moment just before sunset when the light on the marsh is lovely. He used to stand and look at it and it filled him with bliss. . .. there’s a moment in spring—it hardly lasts more than a fortnight—when the dogwood bursts into flower, and the gum trees burst into leaf, and their young fresh green against the gray Spanish moss is like a song of joy; the ground is carpeted with great white lilies and wild azalea. . .. If there is a God in heaven, Gray was very near Him then.”

This passage is spoken by Isabel. After breaking her engagement with Larry, she marries his good friend, Gray. Gray works with his father in the investment business and has provided a very comfortable and fashionable life for Isabel, which is what she wanted. She always talks about how good Gray has been to her, how they have had a happy life together. However, after the stock market crash in 1929, their life gets uncomfortable (to a degree) quite quickly. They of course lose their fortune and must sell off jewelry, their family homes, etc. But also, Gray, who is a good man of principle, is bearing the weight of having lost the money of all those who had trusted him and his father for so long. It wears on him greatly. They can keep (or more truthfully can’t get a buyer for) their South Carolina plantation. That’s the scene that Isabel describes above.
 
I think all of us here in Colorado Springs can probably relate to this picture, though the flora be different. We barely have to venture off our own streets to catch a glimpse of Pikes Peak with a beautiful purple sunset, or the sun coming up pink and fiery over the eastern plains. When I need a break from a frustrating day of work, or a noisy house, or am stressed by too many obligations, the first thing I think to do is to take a break and go for a walk. Virtually anyone talking about mental health or “self-care” will suggest it as well. Moving for even just a few minutes at a relaxed pace can be beneficial to us in mind and body. . . and spirit. I always feel thankful for the beauty I encounter when I step outside. It is easy to make that walk a time of thankful prayer for God’s creation. It is time spent with Him.

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for your beautiful creation that I am blessed to live in every day. Help me to remember your hand in each detail and remind me to use my time outside as a time to rest in you.