what we can't possess

I went on a lovely adventure not too long ago. An adventure through a part of BC that I had not yet experienced. The landscape and view were breathtakingly big. And though not really a little person, I did in fact notice that by comparison, I am quite small for a tall girl.

It is a difficult notion to grasp that through faith the size of a mustard seed not only am I able to move mountains, but in fact nothing is impossible for me.  (Matt 17:20) I know that in my own strength and power I am possibly able to move a tree on a mountain. With some equipment I may be able to move several trees at once, even fell them. But through the power of the Holy Spirit I am able to move not just the trees but the mountain beneath both figuratively and literally.

Have you seen mountains? Canadian mountains? They are quite ... well, large really.

Being in the presence of such enormity inspires wonder and awe regardless of ones belief system. At such times I wish I could capture and hold that feeling of wonder, that moment of time, that impressive and supernatural beauty. Not just of pictures but the more that we can't quite get a handle on.

Sometimes I am wildly taking pictures trying to seize and keep what I see, distracting myself from the fact that I cannot. That it is more than what I see, more than what I feel, but a longing which cannot, I think, truly be satisfied in this place or this time. I agree with CS Lewis who wrote in Mere Christianity "If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, ... we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world."

courtesy of Allison, whose hand eye coordination is excellent especially when it comes to capturing moments

and mountains

The sweetest things in life I think are those which we cannot possess. Friendship and love, time and beauty, tastes, sounds, experiences, dreams. That which can be owned is soon less valuable, forgotten, broken, replaced. And the very fact that we are always wanting even when we have received so much of what we desired, is a sure sign that there is something appealing to us in the hoping for or expecting of, which is lost when what was sought is held. Sadly, forgive this thought, it just came to me, we are like dogs chasing squirrels, not knowing what to do with what we catch.

Funny, I had intended to tell you all about my trip in the mountains. I suppose the next holiday, the next road trip, the next plan seems much more exciting than that which has happened. I rarely tire of discussing my plans before they happen, but unless a story is really good, there is a limit to wanting to tell it. And strangely it is mostly the moments we wouldn't want to relive that make the best stories. Wish I had taken a picture of my friend Allison and I making KD mac and cheese on the side of the road, in the dark, with big trucks relentlessly passing a bit too near and a bit too fast for comfort.

Thank God for the value in the moments and experiences that we cannot possess.