Richard Petty

I met Richard Petty a few months ago and still haven't found time or interest in watching a NASCAR race. It's boring. Mr. Petty however, was anything but boring. Now horse racing is interesting. A horse is an animal that can take thousands of people for a ride! In fact, did you know that a pessimist is an optimist on the way home from the track? These are the guys who like to follow horses - which follow other horses!

When I get old I think I'll get a hat like his.

The problem of evil

Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel relates in one of his essays an experience he had when he was a prisoner in Auschwitz. A Jewish prisoner was being executed while the rest of the camp were forced to watch. As the prisoner hung on the gallows - kicking and struggling in the throes of death, refusing to die - an onlooker was heard to mutter under his breath with increasing desperation, "Where is God? Where is He?"

From out of nowhere, Wiesel says, a voice within him spoke to his own heart, saying, "Right there on the gallows, where else?"

Theologian Jurgen Moltmann, commenting on Wiesel's story, astutely observed that any other answer would have been blasphemous. Ravi Zacharias asked the question, "Is there a more concrete illustration than the death of Christ to substantiate God's presence, right in the midst of pain? He bore the brunt of the pain inflicted by the wickedness of His persecutors - and showed us the heart of God. He displayed in His own suffering what the work of God is all about in changing our hearts from evil to holiness."

Hanging lake

We hiked up a steep mile up to hanging lake with our friends over the weekend. Being really brave, we decided to walk out on this fallen tree. Since the water was icy cold, one slip would've meant an unhappy ending to our hike. The water was very clear and well over our heads, maybe 8 to 10 feet deep.

Hmm... where did they go? Fortunately, we just walked off. The lake sits perched on a high cliff overlooking a long canyon above Glenwood Canyon. It's a spectacular place.

Aspen near Aspen

The hike up to Crater Lake involves hiking through thick aspen groves. This is what will be so stunning in a few weeks when the leaves change colors. Each elevation will have unique colors and hues based on temperature, tree health, and even the movement of colder air. Hopefully, we'll be back up for that spectacle.

Maroon Bells on 9/11/11

Nancy and I went hiking with our friends up at Maroon Bells near Aspen, over the weekend. The weather was a little "iffy" in the morning but by afternoon it was beautiful. Actually the morning clouds provided some cool temperatures for the climb up to Crater Lake, pictured below...

After getting up to Crater Lake we decided to hike on up Maroon Creek for a few miles to look for moose and bear. Of course, you can never see any wildlife if you're specifically looking for them. They usually only surprise you.

New eyes

Marcel Proust wrote "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Perhaps the same is true as it relates to belief in God.

The facade I am pretending to climb was painted on the flat side of a building in Cortez, CO. Just about everything in the world; its art, its nature, its people, and even me is a fascination. In order to know God, I need to give up my fascination with things I see in the world and focus on the character and purposes of God. I am not the point. He is. I exist for him. He does not exist for me. To do this, I need new eyes.

The world

"The world is charged with the grandeur of God."

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

Holidays

Our trip to Tucson on labor day left us with warm feelings of joy and peace. Most people celebrate a holiday by not going to work. In my family, we'll celebrate when my son-in-law does. It's not that he's lazy. In fact, it's quite the opposite. He's very busy going to school to get his doctorate. We're excited for him and for the future rewards of his efforts now. In the meantime, we like to play with the kids.

Incapable of believing

In John's gospel, the Jews are said the be incapable of believing because they "look to one another for approval" (5:44). Maybe there is a large incompatibility between human respect and authentic faith in Christ. The strokes or scorn of our peers become more important than the approval of Jesus.

Bendon Manning writes, "When we freely assent to the mystery of our belovedness and accept our core identity as Abba's child, we slowly gain autonomy from controlling relationships." It's at that moment we become inner-directed instead of outer-determined.

A birthday

I forgot to mention that Andy had a birthday over the weekend. We celebrated his 4th year in this world. I asked him how he felt about things so far and he said, "times are bad when 'dollars to doughnuts' is even money." At least he has his baseball.

We also had cake! We had cake after dinner and we had cake for breakfast too. In fact, I think we're still having cake. It was really really good.

Mt. Lemmon

On the weekend we drove up to Mt. Lemmon with Seth, Noelle, and the grand kids. Just outside of Tucson, it brought welcome relief from the 105 degree heat. At our picnic table we enjoyed 70 degree temperatures and lots of laughs and fun in the pine trees.

We found a small picnic site and a nice table with a view of the valley below. Daisy picked daisy's and Andy collected pine cones.

Just 25 yards from our table was this nice rock overlooking the valley and a small mountain town. After lunch we drove to this mountain town and enjoyed giant cookies at the cookie store.

Bear

Last year I saw a couple of bear near Roxborough Park, just a few miles from my house. I heard a rumor that this one and his mate were shot trying to get into someone's house nearby. Too bad.

Sheep

A few years ago we could walk up Waterton Canyon and see the big horn sheep. As you can see they are quite tame. However, the canyon has been closed for over a year now due to the dredging out of Strontia Springs Reservoir. We'll have to wait a while longer I guess.

Deer

The deer are coming back down out of the mountains and you can see signs of them everywhere. These were just a few miles from our house.