Preparing to climb the Crestone Needle in Colorado this Fall
Last night I stared alone in the dark at a time clock that I finally installed on the wall for a company here in Michigan. To most people it’ll probably be an icon of the slavery of an hourly job; but to me, it was an icon representing a short, yet amazing era of the last three months. This project has been a small part of my life in Denver, Colorado. A city that has finally regained her glory in my heart.
Five years ago, I stumbled into Golden, Colorado as a last resort. I was running away from life. I felt like I was a failure at college. And I’d broken my contract with Air Force ROTC two years earlier after feeling like I was of no worth to either the Air Force… or to society at that. I’d left an amazing community of people at Michigan Tech to jump head on into the pressures of an Information Technology consulting job in the hyper-materialistic culture of the United States. And just a year later, I would run away from that job in Denver to head to Yellowstone where my love for mountaineering would deepen, and I could be away from the pressures of success, money, cell-phones, and BlackBerries.
Yet I’m now learning that there is beauty everywhere. God hasn’t neglected the desert of Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana; He has created a beauty here that has a glory no less than anywhere else. There is no perfect place; beauty everywhere has a unique and amazing profoundness. When I arrived in Colorado five years ago, I hated the arid landscape. I spent all of my time in the mountains looking for any stream, any lake, or any green meadow. But now I miss sagebrush and antelope. I miss the open prairies that run for hundreds of miles revealing the mountains in the distance or the ponderosa pine that grows next to cactus in the arid foothills on the Front Range. Years ago I detested the barrenness of the Rockies. Yet now no longer do I simply tolerate that barrenness, but I’ve now come to discover what I thought was barrenness is full of beauty that’s full of life, and I’ve come to love it. The aridity of the West is no longer is death, but brings life to me; I ache for that beauty. The Rockies from Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are wild and freeing to my heart. They’re risky and uncomfortable and not always immediately ready to quench my thirst. But they’re an amazing place for someone longing to risk, longing to see God come through when nothing else will. If you look hard you can find some of the greenest meadows and most beautiful wildflowers. I’ve seen countless elk, moose, coyotes, bears, deer, bighorn sheep, antelope, bison, mountain goats, and even a wolf. And in the winter time, the Rockies hold some of the deepest snows east of the Pacific coastal ranges. The beauty I once wanted nothing to do with I now see as essential to my heart. The beauty I once overlooked now feels like home to my heart more than any other place in the United States!
We often overlook and define beauty. But is it possible that every bit of beauty that God has created both in people and all of creation is essential? Is it truly possible that contrary to CNN or TV or popular culture that no person and no creature has missed out on God’s glory? Perhaps we should be careful the next time we call someone or some part of His creation ugly or less beautiful? Because we all need that uniqueness of every part of God’s creation! Is it possible that we need all of the beauty found in His creation; is it possible that every person was created in fully in His image?
These last three months back in Colorado during my short time in the United States have been challenging, perhaps just as much as on the World Race. And yet they’ll be some of the most memorable as well. I’m grieving Denver… I never thought I’d say that.
Nate – thanks so much for showing me your heart to love others. I’ve seen God living within you in a way that I never knew He did! Davee – I know we didn’t hang out as much as I wanted to. But I know that God is continuing to work in you and it’s encouraging to see! Chris – you’ve given to me so much. And it’s so refreshing to see your heart continue to seek God above else wherever he as you…in the Air Force and beyond! Liz – thanks for your AWESOME hospitality and for being willing to listen so well. Kevin and Jen, Jim and Michaela, Ken and Jamie – thanks so much for sharing your lives and your homes and for your encouragement!
And Summer – I’ve never had a friendship like ours before – never have I had a relationship with so much meaning and depth and honesty. And I don’t ever think I’ve been challenged by someone so much willing to love me. All the way through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Minnesota. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the last three months with you!
Scouting out a hiking location early this winter in the Gore Range of Colorado
Center Picture: November frost and snow in the Gore Range
