Like drinking from a fire hydrant
November 4, 2009
photo courtesy of photobucket.com
My family and I are gathered on an outcropping of rocks high in the mountains, wondering at the stars. An unusually warm winter’s night has given us the luxury of this little excursion, and we’ve been rewarded with the sort of natural scene that sucks in your breath and makes you exhale in a long, slow whistle.
Planets dance above our heads, stars glimmer, and each of us take turns wishing upon the occasional meteorite. Orion stands guard at his post near the horizon, his belt cinched and shining. The Big Dipper looks as if it’s pouring the Milky Way upon our heads. The heavens are arrayed in a perfect sort of chaos, as if God has sneezed a miracle.
My son gazes up and wonders of rocket ships and aliens. My daughter? Angels and celestial playgrounds. My wife is wondering why we don’t come up here more often, because we should.
And me? I’m thinking about a dog I met last summer…
To read the rest of my encounter, follow me over to my friend Annie’s blog. And while you’re there, say hi to Boz for me. Now that’s one cool dog!
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10 Responses to “Like drinking from a fire hydrant”
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I’m a writer whose first novel, Snow Day, will be published by FaithWords in 2010.
But don’t let that fool you. I’m just as confused as anyone.
And that is fine with me, because the great thing about wandering around in the fog is that you never know what you might run into.
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I read this post very early this morning. The sky was still just slightly dark and I could see four deer standing on the hillside behind my house under a nearly full moon. Applause to the Ceator is all I have to say today. Sometimes I see the beauty in creation and I wonder how anyone can say there is no God?
Hi Billy – I’m lovin’ all the new snapshots of you. Neat to see you out of a baseball cap and cowboy hat!
Your writing is beautiful – truly inspiring and always gives me something to ponder about God’s truths!
Blessings,
Jill
Another wonderful post. . . You just keep them coming!
An experience I’ve never forgotten: I was high in the mountains of Colorado very late at night. Our car rounded a bend to find cars suddenly stopping and pulling off. We pulled off, too, and got out to see what everyone was pointing to. Looking up, we saw the most magnificent arc of stars, the Milky Way, impossible to see down below where city lights make the sky disappear. We all started clapping. Hearts just filled. I felt like I’d gone to heaven that night.
It’s posts like this that make me want to be able to read your book now. “Wondering at the stars,” “Orion stands guard,” and the way you describe what your children see in the stars. Excellent. Good to read this morning.
~ Wendy
I loved this! Thank you!
Stars = God sneezed a miracle = beautiful. Checked out the first part of your book you’ve posted, too, and your metaphors and language is gorgeous. Thanks for brightening the world with all this. Cheering on your publishing debut!
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Billy, this is the part loved most: But I’ve never lost sight of that other sermon, the one I am a witness to every day. It’s a silent one, ever present, given to believer and doubter alike.
What strikes me now, as it did in earlier times before I read your words, is that we ALL have access to God’s beauty and breath, even when we don’t recognize it as such. I am so grateful to have eyes to see it, and ears to hear it. It is so much grander when we can look “behind the music” and know the Creator of the artwork and His story, and not just be in awe of the work itself.
I loved that you said Grace is closer to Weight. The weight of God. For me, that weight is like my favorite, heavy quilt. Warm, thick, and enfolding. Is that not also Grace? Everyday I am enfolded with blessings I cannot possibly see, recognize, or number and yet there’s just enough understanding for me to feel the weight of God and know that I am–and therefore, am loved.
In a sick household this weekend, I needed this reminder that God is all around me–I just need to look beyond the Kleenex. Time to go star-gazing tonight.