“When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.” John Muir

When my grandmother became overwhelmed by all the grief around her, she’d go to the woods.  My husband is the same way.  He seems to draw some strength by being away from the cares of life and close to God’s beautiful creation.  I’m not much of a nature buff, but I do appreciate how just getting away from all the cobwebs that mess up the every day, can refresh our spirits.

Now that things have gotten so clouded and insane in our world, I’m becoming more prone to a trip to the mountains or somewhere that’s just inhabited by me and God. I think we all need a healing time, even when our bodies are healthy.  Our souls need a good shot in the arm once in a while.  I can’t think of a better place to be than wrapped in the arms of my Creator, feeling His strength giving me new life and energy, pushing the noise out and breathing refreshment into my nostrils.

Unfortunately, as long as we inhabit this world, we will never find complete peace.  Our planet is inhabited with hatred, narcissism, violence, a network of words that gives us a picture of all of it within seconds.

When Job was confronted by the loss of everything important to Him, he clung to the only One He could count on.  Certainly not his friends.  They were making judgments of their own and trying to discover what wrong Job had done to put him in such a bad relationship with God.  Job hung on, even as he lost all his children, his means of making a living, home, servants, cattle – everything.

Still he had the strength to praise God in the midst of all his trouble.  I’m not Job and I certainly don’t have his stamina, but we all have our battles on this side of eternity.  Today, instead of focusing on the ugliness, let’s go “into the woods.”