Mississippi Bound Pt.1

“The world is beautiful but badly broken. St. Paul said that it groans, but I love it even in it’s groaning. I love this round stage where we act out the tragedies and the comedies of history. I love it with all it’s villains and petty liars and self-righteous pompers. I love the ants and the laughter of wide-eyed children encountering their first butterfly. I love it as it is, because it is a story, and it isn’t stuck in one place. It is full of conflict and darkness like every good story. And like every good story, there will be an ending. I love the world as it is, because I love what it will be.” - n.d.wilson

We embarked today on a little journey down to Tupelo, Mississippi. More on why we’re headed down later. It’s fun stuff. But now, we drive. And I love everything about the journey. The talking, relaxing, reading and watching the world swirl by. Initially I was a bit disappointed to have such a grey and damp day for a beautiful drive through pastures and Blue Ridge Mountains, but I have to say there’s something about being cozied up in your comfy car and watching the world, sunny or surly - it’s a beautiful place. 

Anyone who’s driven more than one minute on a highway knows trees. As we drive I’m reading n.d. wilson and he says, “Tree, I say, and you know what I mean. You see one in your mind, or glance out your window and remember the much needed pruning. Tree, God says, and there is one. But he doesn’t say the word tree; He says the tree itself. He needs no shortcut. He’s not merely calling one into existence, though His voice creates. His voice is it’s existence.”  -  “We imitate God’s words, but our noises are insufficient. So we doodle in the margins, children working to capture the Sistine Chapel with finger paints on a paper plate. What else can we do?” - “Look outside. Human language is our attempt at navigating God’s language; it is us running between the lines of His epic, climbing on the vowels and building houses out of the consonants.” 

This is His spoken word.

As we continue to drive, we observe God’s word. Lots of trees. Blurs of purple blossoms or still brown and branchy yet-to-blossom ones and pines so thickly layered across hills that you can’t even identify the individuals. This is His spoken word. And, it’s all beautiful and full of good. And a sweet thing to see the trees of other places and to think about the quiet spaces of the earth that God spoke existence into. It’s fun to think about.

Looking forward to updating along the way. I'm sure we'll have some adventures to tell. :)

“Listen to a child’s first laugh and know that this world is here, that you are in it and that it’s flavors are deep and layered and it’s lights are bright. Know that it’s real.”