More than the Mountains
What is Creation?
When you think of creation, what comes to mind?
Is it a sculptor, birthing forth something new from that which existed?
Is it a videographer who brings story to life?
If you are like many others, especially those within a faith community, the word “creation” often connotes nature. The vast outdoors, the mountaintops and valleys, the deep blue ocean and the lakes scattered across the land upon which we live. To many creation is the mountains. I get the privilege to live in the beautiful state of Colorado, one of the greatest destinations in the world for exploring the outdoors. It is a place filled with awestruck wonder. From the beautiful peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park, to the jagged alp like wonders which encompass the San Juan Range, everything about this place exudes beautiful creation.
Our Limiting Belief
Quite often I hear people express their need to sit in or be with God’s creation. When they speak this, it is often in a context of feeling burnt out on life, needing to recharge, be at peace, or explaining that God’s creation is where we are able to best be with Him. We describe the outdoors, nature, the wonders of the earth as a place intentionally made to be with God.
This is an idea to which I have often ascribed, a belief system by which I have chosen to adopt. Even this past week I spent several days alone out in Telluride and Ouray, exploring and enjoying the wonders of nature and God’s creation. While this is a good thing, I also believe it to be a limiting belief.
In what way?
There are two ways in which we limit our own ability to enjoy God based in how we view His creation.
If we look at the creation story we see God creating the heavens, the earth, and everything in the earth. This is so easily accepted as creation; however, there are two missing pieces in this view.
How we interact with this creation
What else was included within creation
Interaction
How do we interact with the creation of nature?
We can so easily and so often go into nature as a means to an end rather than embracing, enjoying, and glorifying God in it. In Denver, so many people with whom I interact see nature as a place to escape. We run into the woods to literally escape the busyness associated with everyday life. We enter into an “eremos” or secret place to avoid the realities, the notifications, the busyness of the world. We then call this rest.
Is it truly rest if we are merely running? Does that not sound equally exhausting as work itself? Running from a reality often causes more exhaustion than reality itself. So then what should this escape to nature entail? And what is this word Eremos you used?
Eremos
er'-ay-mos
solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited
used of places
a desert, wilderness
deserted places, lonely regions
an uncultivated region fit for pasturage
This word is used throughout the bible on many occasions in the context of a desolate place, away from others, but not in the conterxt or means of escapism. Rather, this is a place to be challenged. It is this word which is used to classify the place where Jesus is confronted by satan and tempted time and time again. It is a place where Jesus went to be with God, to engage with His Father without distraction. It is a place which is filled with intentionality, not escape.
Naturalism
In camera double exposure captured at Alta Lakes
So how may this inform the naturalistic world which we often see? Many embrace the healing power of nature but neglect the full truth of it. Naturalism has become as much a religion as Christianity for many. The belief and acceptance of Nature as a place to be healed and to engage God. But what most of us lack is the willingness to truly confront God in the midst of this desolate place. We run to the woods to avoid our problems - Jesus went into the woods to come out stronger. He would go into this eremos to be with the father without distraction, to hear guidance, to be challenged and tempted, and come out the other side more firm in who He is and who God is.
Our problem is lack of intentionality as we engage the natural world. We lack the necessity of directing Glory within the natural world to the creator as He deserves. We lack the intentionality to engage with the realities of our busy life in a place where no other distractions may pull us away from confronting the temptations and struggles which we experience daily.
So what must we do?
Well it is simple, we must avoid the naturalist tendency to just admire nature and rather must point the glory of it all to God an d to allow this eremos to be a place where we do not run from our problems but are willing to face them.
Let the mountains scream out the glory of God, His awesome power and majesty. Let the cliffs we face humble us against the awesome power of a God who made it all. Let us sit, undistracted, and willing to allow God to minister to us, our lives, our situations as we embrace His creation.
The Overlooked
Now we understand that we cannot - or at least should not- simply run into nature as a form of escapism. But we have yet to answer the question, what is included within creation?
We know of course nature is part of God’s creation, but what else is?
Well, you.
Self-portrait shot at Bridal Veil Falls
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Genesis 1:26-31
As we ponder creation and think about enjoying that which God created, we often forget one of the most important pieces of it - namely, us.
That’s right, you.
Your neighbor.
That stranger at a coffee shop.
Your middle school bully.
We each are an often overlooked aspect of God’s creation. And to make it more impactful, He created us in His image and gave us a special place amongst creation. As we read the creation story of Genesis, we see God gives us something unique, He gives us dominion.
Creation is more than the mountains. Just as much as we go out into nature to engage with, experience, and enjoy God we should do the same with the other great aspect of God’s creation, one another. Everyone you get to engage with holds a piece of God’s story, whether they are following Him or not. Are you intentionally seeking God in those around you? This is not to say we are God, after all the bible clearly states that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, but we being made as image bearers of God hold a unique place as creation to constantly point one another back to the Father. We often leverage our view of the creation - nature- to escape such an important aspect of God’s creation - one another.
Perhaps it is this limiting view of creation which calls us to disregard so many of God’s children, His image bearers. We avoid conversations with others, seeking to simply engage through a screen. We put in headphones on a walk or at the coffee shop to avoid human interaction. We tell the delivery driver to leave our food at the door over having to engage with someone. Why are we avoiding encounters with God’s children?
Perhaps it is for the same reason we avoiding truly engaging with God in eremos.
Because we would rather focus on ourselves, glorify ourselves, than glorify God and to engage others to do the same.
Engage
So what?
What does this mean, what do we do?
Well, for starters, I believe we must remind ourselves that we all are part of God’s creation. Just as we are awestruck by nature, God is awestruck by us. We must begin to look at others, and ourselves rightly, just as God does. We must look to one another as image-bearers, God’s magnificent creation with which He is well pleased. So stop just running to nature and not engaging it, stop running from people and not engaging them and let us each remember that creation is made to be engaged with, and that creation is more than the mountains.
