Weak Praise

I read Don Miller's Through Painted Deserts recently and he writes about sunrises alot, and towards the end he writes about watching sunrises in a particular meadow outside of Sisters, Oregon. He watches the sun rise surrounded by all the mountains of the central Cascades; The Three Sisters, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington and Black Butte. I'm sure he was surrounded by bright, soft alpenglow, probably with many peached, rose and gold fingers lighting up the sky. Anyway, he writes, " And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge upon earth's shore. These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that man's weak praise should be given God's attention," (253).

So I read this and was floored. I have often read when Jesus' response the religious leaders commands to silence His disciples' praise, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out," (Luke 19:40, NRSV). After reading this Miller passage, I immediately thought of this passage and how if we humans don't praise God, then the rocks will for us, but Miller takes it a step further, a step I was reminded of after telling my boss and head pastor, Brad, about this passage. He reminded me of the passage in Romans where Paul declares, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God," (Romans 8:19, NRSV). Now what Don saw was the connection between these two verses; it is true that if we humans do not praise God then the stones will shout out, but it is also true that all creation waits for God's glory to be revealed in us, the Children of God. As creation waits for this revelation, it longs in the depths of the universe to shout out praise to The Mighty Maker, which it will be allowed when God's glory is revealed in us weak, frail humans. So when these mountains witness untold sunrises, each indescribably beautiful and minutely different, of course they long to thunder praise that would shake the earth to its core, but they don't, they wait, for us. God's glory comes from our praise, as weak as our flimsy selves can create, and we must continue until The Day when God finally allows creation to cry out in adoration. I hope that this reminds me how my praise must be deep, heartfelt and loud, because these mountains are waiting, so that I might praise The One who lifted them from the earth's flatness. Praise be to The Uncreated One, who created all that we know and see by speaking the Word, and who knows me more intimately tha I know myself, and yet somehow, still loves me so much to take on all sin and pain throughout eternity, so we could be together.

this picture is not of Don's meadow, it is of our cottage and the mountains that I see every day, the mountains which lift immediately thousands of feet, and which face east, every new day witnessing one more incredible sunrise, Don's stuff made me think of these, The Ko'olau Mountains. I plan to put up more pictures, both of our Ko'olaus, and of the Cascades, close to where Don stayed.
Only In Love