How is it possible that the beauties of a foreign land can seem so familiar to me? The full moon sitting high in the night sky, thin clouds draped around it. Shadow-creating craters chipping away at the fullness. The soft night breeze rustling the stalks of sugarcane. A quiet "shhhhh" beckons the ear to listen closer. Take the moment in. Fully. Completely. Be here. Be in now.
I've never seen this side of the globe; not until the race, not until now. But this beauty is familiar in a way that brings me eye-closing, smile-forming comfort. And then- ah, I know what this is. My Father reminds me, this is God beauty. These moments of familiar awe are God's breath. His smile. His handiwork. Both his gifts of love and his declaration of his glory that scatter every inch of the universe. A picture can capture these moments, these beauties, but will only hint at the beauty seen by the eyes; that which only hints at the real beauty and glory of our God.
I am amazed by the comfort he can bring me all the way in the middle of this Cambodian sugarcane field. The very same comfort I've found in my own backyard in Illinois. But I see the Buddhist temples in the distance, lining the flat horizon. I hear the celebrations. The celebrations full of loud, high pitched tunes carrying through the sugarcane, dedicating a new idol for a family to worship.
But my God, he is here. He has not been defeated. He will never be defeated. Those tall golden temples may glimmer in beauty, but the hints of my Father far surpass them in beauty, in glory.
There is nowhere I can go where this will not be true. There is nowhere I can go where hints of my Father are not evident. He is in the smiles of the Khmer children we are teaching. He is in the gleam of the morning sunlight. He is in the tears of healing. He is in a calm, winter snowfall. He is in the peacefulness of a quiet morning cup of coffee. He is in moments of choosing joy wherever we may be. His beauty is in Cambodia, it's in Thailand, it's in China, it's right in our backyards at home.
Choose to see the beauty. Choose to take it in. Fully. Completely. Be here. Be in now.
