The Road goes ever on and on...

A little over a week ago, my dad and I took a break from the buzz of power lines, drone of cars and endless blaring of the TV to relax amid the fresh air of the Colorado Rockies.  Nothing is quite the same when you're lying on your back, staring up at the night sky, watching it grow into a magnificent painting before your eyes.  Breathing in the mountain air, I felt refreshed for the first time in a while.  I'd forgotten what beauty really is.  I'd forgotten to look at the beauty that fills each day.  God created a masterpiece, but how often do I miss it?
The answer, sadly, is that I miss it quite often.  I don't know about anyone else, but I know I get caught up in the day to day things, like going to work, and forget to enjoy the beauty in life.  I worry about making enough money to pay for college, writing well enough to get good grades, looking good enough to get the attention of others.  But looking up at the night sky for the first time in months and seeing more than a few stars, seeing thousands upon ten thousands of stars, was a relief.  It reminded me of God telling Abraham that his descendents would number the stars in the sky.  I was also reminded, as I took a deep breath and smelled the crisp, fresh smell of pine and campfire, of Matthew 6, where Jesus says, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink.  Look at the birds of the air; they do no sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them."  I thought, "If God can make a whole nation come from one man, if he can provide for him, and he can provide for even the lilies and the birds, what have I got to worry about?"
I'd forgotten why  I love the beauty of the quiet, peaceful mountain peaks that loomed all around me.  It's because when I see them, I can think.  I can relax and remember to let God take care of me.
After that first night in the mountains, my dad and I went on a hike.  We started off rather early, but already, the sun peaked it's brilliant light over the mountain behind us and lit our path.  At first, I was going simply for the cardio and refreshing feeling of doing something.  I was already forgetting to enjoy the tall aspens and douglass firs around me.  I reached a point where I could see out from the trees, and I simply stopped moving.  Before me, I looked across the slope of the mountain we were on, Mt. Massive, and saw the tree-covered slope of another mountain.  Bathed in the morning light, it was gorgeous.  Another reminder of the beauty around me.  I continued on, but this time, I made more of an effort to really take in the scenery around me.  The brown dirt of the path mixed with the olives and tans of grasses and shrubbery.  The lavenders, blues, and violets of mountain wildflowers.  The whites of the aspen tree's bark.  All were absolutely stunning.  My heart grew lighter as we came to a bend in the road.  Suddenly, I could hear the rush of a mountain spring, delivering the remains of a snowy and cold winter and spring to the river that runs along the valley.  Instead of the muddied water I was used to seeing in the few lakes and ponds around my home, my eyes were greeted with water so clear, I could see the rocks that lay beneath the creek.  Clean.  Pure. Just as God makes me through the waters of Baptism and through the absolution of my sins.
My journey did not end there.  The trail we chose kept going.  At one point, I could only see the trail.  Again, the words of someone else came to mind.
"The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."

 So one poet wrote.  My journey, much like that of the speaker of this poem, continues past that mountain trail.  The views I saw while on that trail were a wonderful sight, which I hope to remember for quite some time.  But already, though I saw them only a week ago, the peace I found in God through those sights is waning.  I can only pray that I might continue to see the beauty around me, and in doing so, continue moving down the Road chosen for me.  Though I cannot say where that path leads, I rejoice in knowing that someone much greater than me does know. 

(The photos are just a few  of the pictures I snapped on my hike.  First, the road that goes on an on.  Second, the peak of Mt. Elbert, which neighbors Mt. Massive near Leadville, CO.)